


Immortal Love

by camz_laur96



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Dawnguard, Dragonborn - Freeform, Elder Scrolls - Freeform, F/F, Skyrim - Freeform, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2018-11-05 09:14:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 96,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11010432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camz_laur96/pseuds/camz_laur96
Summary: Alessia never intended on saving the world once, let alone twice. All she wanted was to escape her life in Bravil and start a family somewhere safe. She found someone she loves, but is it really true?Characters and some dialogue are from the game so credit to the the game.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is terrible I'm not one to really write stories. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy the story

All she was trying to do was leave. She didn't want life in Bravil anymore, she didn't see the city as a safe one for her future. She didn't have enough money to move anywhere else in Cyrodiil. The trip through Cyrodiil was already hard enough, traveling through the whole country basically, but she also had to make it past the border of Skyrim. It wasn't her first choice but she had to make it work. 

She never thought she would walk into an Imperial blockade along with multiple Stormcloaks and their leader Ulfric. When she tried to explain she wasn't with them, she was only met with violence as an Imperial soldier hit her head with something hard the knocked her out. 

* * *

 "Hey, you. You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there." An unknown Nord looked over at the Imperial that tried crossing the border, slowly coming to her senses. 

There were three others in the carriage with her, two she did not know but one was a Stormcloak soldier and the other wearing the same ragged clothes as she was. The other person she knew to well, Ulfric Stormcloak, there were many posters of him throughout the cities of Cyrodiil saying that he's wanted for crimes against the empire. 

She quickly tuned out the two who were across from her as she tried to figure out where she was. It was definitely cold as snow was falling around them. There were trees everywhere also but they then ended when they reached stone walls. 

"Look at him, General Tullius, the Military Governor. And it looks like the Thalmor are with him. Damn elves. I bet they had something to do with this. This is Helgen. I used to be sweet on a girl from here. Wonder if Vilod is still making that mead with juniper berries mixed in. Funny, when I was a boy, Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe." The Nord interrupted her curiosity as she followed to where he was looking, there were a couple Thalmor and General Tullius standing a couple yards away from the gates. 

It was sunny outside so there were people watching them as they sat outside there homes and walked around the village. Most went inside their homes once they saw the carriages, already knowing the prisoners fate. 

She soon realized she would never get to have a family in a small village, where everyone knew each other. She would never get to travel the roads of Skyrim and see the sites and wonders there. All she would see is snow, Helgen, and the block of wood where she would soon die. 

She stared at her feet as the Imperial man began calling the Stormcloaks by their names to the area near the block. The one who stole a horse in the cart with her tried running away, only making it to the next house over before the archers got him. The man calling the names stopped when she was the last one left and looked at his list confused. 

"Wait. You there. Step forward. Who are you?" She looked up at him and shook her head. Her only thought was why do they care if they are just going to kill her. 

"I'm Alessia. Sorry that I stormed into your party uninvited, but I should be going. I would never even think of being with the Stormcloaks." The man looked at the woman next to him unsure of what to do. 

"Captain. What should we do? She's not on the list." Alessia closed her eyes as she waited for the Captain's response, and it wasn't a delightful one. 

"Forget the list. She goes to the block."

"By your orders, Captain. Follow the Captain, prisoner." Alessia followed her, not to entertained by Tulluis going on about how Ulfric killed the High King and started a war. 

In the distance, there was a loud roar, sort of like a saber cat but many times worse. The Imperials continued though, having a priest read them their rights which Alessia wasn't interested in. As soon as she started a Stormcloak interrupted her saying he didn't have all day and walked up to the block, the first to be executed. 

"Next, the renegade from Cyrodiil!" Alessia walked slowly to the block, taking the last few seconds she had to live to think about a family that she would have.

 The loud roar was heard again, the man with the list pointed it out like only he could hear it. The captain didn't hesitate and had Alessia continue to the block. 

Just as the headsman raised his weapon, but before he could bring it down to Alessia a dragon appeared on top of the nearby tower. The headsman fell, then the dragon Shouted, something Alessia never wanted to hear. The scene was like something in books, meteors falling everywhere as people ran inside while the dragon flew around burning down the village. 

Alessia followed others into the keep, Ulfric being one of them and the other Stormcloak in the carriage with her. They were talking about the dragon and legends and burning down villages. The Stormcloak, who she found out was Ralof, led her up the stairs before the dragon broke the wall and burned someone who was standing where she almost was. 

Once the dragon disappeared, Ralof told her to jump to the inn, saying he would catch up if he could. She jumped while hoping he wouldn't catch up with her and she could just leave on her own. 

Once she made it out of the inn she saw the made reading the list once she arrived in Helgen. He was with a young boy and another man, trying to protect them from the dragon. The other man took the kid with him telling the man, who's name was Hadvar, to stay safe. Hadvar told Alessia to follow him if she wanted to stay alive, so she didn't hesitate to follow him. 

After avoiding the dragon and making it through multiple damaged homes they made it to a larger keep, crossing paths with Ralof. Alessia decided to stay with Hadvar after Ralof told her to follow him. Once they got inside to safety she was cut free and was able to get items to defend herself, a sword and armor. 

Hadvar and Alessia made it out safely then ventured to Riverwood where his uncle owned a forge. They also got there in one piece and met Hod. He offered Alessia a better sword since she wasn't staying. 

He sent her to Whiterun to report what happened in Helgen. Alessia was then quested with helping Farengar with getting him a dragon stone in Bleakflalls Barrow. While she was there she absorbed some type of power from a wall with dovahzul writing on it. 

When she took the stone back to him, she had to go see the Jarl and was sent to kill a dragon attaching the Watchtower. Once her along with Whiterun guards succeeded, she absorbed another power, this time from the dragon. The one guard called her Dragonborn which Alessia didn't think was true because it was from an old legend. 

As she was heading back to Whiterun, a strange noise was heard, most likely across all of Tamriel. Alessia picked up on what it was, the only dovahzul she knew,  _Dovahkiin._

When she reached Dragonsreach, she was informed that the Greybeards were the ones who made the noise, summoning her to High Hrothgar. Before she left Dragonsreach, Jarl Balgruuf granted her the title of Thane. Along with being Thane she was given a home in Whiterun and a Housecarl named Lydia. 

* * *

 

But this all happened a year ago, and not once has she cared that she was Dragonborn. Her plans changed and she never stepped foot near High Hrothgar and never intended to. It made many people in Skyrim nervous, wondering why their hero wasn't here to save the world. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

The nightmares came almost every night, the worse ones would always come when she wasn't with her, but that wasn't often. They tried to stay togetger on some adventures to keep each other safe. People in Whiterun knew they weren't the average Housecarl and Thane, but something more. 

Though she never knew what the nightmares were about, Lydia was there to wake her from them. She quickly accepted the fact that Alessia didn't like to speak of her past, at least about the things that troubled her. She thought keeping her feelings inside was the best, she had a history of people leaving her just by knowing where she was from. Her goal now was just forget the past and start over, even trying to forget why she came to Skyrim in the first place.

* * *

"What's this one from?" Lydia was tracing a scar on Alessia's shoulder as they laid in bed. After a year together Lydia has seen many of her scars, those visible and some not. Most of those seen were visible. 

Alessia moved to her back and faced Lydia. "An arrow. I was walking to Solitude and there were some bandits and one got me. They got worse than I did." Lydia only nodded in response, usually she would have more to say. Alessia ignored it and went downstairs to make something to eat. 

"So I've been thinking lately," Alessia looked up to make sure Lydia heard her before she continued talking. "I sort of need something to do, for us to do. Usually we hang around here or go hunting or just travel to another city for a day or two just to get out. It's getting old doing that stuff all the time." 

"What do you suggest we do then?" 

"Even though I'm not interesting in being the Dragonborn of the legends I could still be a Dragonborn. I've read things saying that there are these dragon walls in ruins or tombs across Skyrim. I can clearly learn them without the Greybeards help." Alessia shot Lydia a stern look when she heard her chuckle at the table. 

"My job is to keep you alive, not let you walk into your death in ancient tombs and ruins." 

"I've been in one before they aren't that bad. I mean I clearly lived." 

"Not all of them are like Bleakfalls. I'd rather keep you here, alive." Alessia decided not to continue to try and convince Lydia. "I have to go get something from Belethor, I'll be right back." Lydia watched her walk outside and shut the door. She quickly walked over to a bookshelf and grabbed a letter that a woman handed her last night and began to read it. 

_Housecarl of the Dragonborn,_

_We all know you can be the one to convince Alessia to put an end to the dragon attacks. The End is coming and only she can stop it. Once you convince her to do something, meet me in Riverwood at the inn and ask for the attic room. Hopefully I will see you soon._

The letter wasn't signed by anyone, but she recognized the writing. Lydia has seen multiple letters addressed to her and Alessia from the same handwriting, all asking the same thing. Knowing Alessia wouldn't be interested, she threw the letter into the fire in the middle of the room.

* * *

Alessia walked outside into the bright sunlight. Before she even made an attempt to leave her doorway, she was stopped by an Orc in some armor she's never seen before. 

"You there. The Dawnguard is looking for anyone willing to fight against the vampire menace. What do you say?" 

"What makes you think I'm able to fight?" Alessia crossed her arms as the Orc narrowed his eyes.

"The Dawnguard are getting, or finding, whoever they can. Not many people are interested in fighting vampires. If you are interesting, my name is Durak, come find me at Fort Dawnguard past Riften." Durak walked away before Alessia could say anything else to him. 

Alessia quickly stopped at Belethor's to get a few things her and Lydia needed for their home. Once she was back home she saw Lydia sitting by the fire reading a book. 

"I think I found something to do, other than go to tombs and ruins." Alessia sat down next to her as she closed the book and rolled her eyes. 

"You mean instead? I hope this one isn't a death sentence too." Alessia nervously chuckled before answering. 

"Would you consider fighting vampires a death sentence?" Alessia already knew the answer as Lydia stood up and started pacing around the room. 

"That's like the definition of a death sentence. Go against one vampire and you have a chance of being one three days after that. You're not going to fight vampires." Lydia crossed her arms as Alessia stared at her. 

"Look, I want to do this. I'm not asking you know I'm telling you, I'm going to Fort Dawnguard to meet Durak." Alessia didn't let Lydia saw anything else and went to the bedroom to change into her armor. She quickly changed then grabbed her sword, bow, and arrows before talking to Lydia again. "You don't have to come with me, just know that I want to do this. I'll write to you as soon as I get to Fort Dawnguard." Lydia said nothing as Alessia kissed her check and walked out the door. 

It took a couple minutes for Lydia to move, she hasn't been talked to like she was a Housecarl in months. Once she did move she changed into her steel armor and grabbed her sword. She quickly ran to the stables to see if Alessia was still there along with a carriage. When Lydia got to the stables she cursed under her breathe as she saw a carriage with a person in a black hood and dark armor in the back seats. She slowly walked back to Breezehome, ignoring the people who asked why she didn't leave with Alessia. 

* * *

It would be an understatement if someone said Alessia looked nervous, many even a little scared. She nervously walked through Dayspring Canyon. She met a man, Agmaer, who looked at nervous as she did. Once they reached the path leading to the entrance of the fort, Alessia spotted Durak using some type of weapon she's never seen before. 

"What's that?" Alessia watched as he continued shooting with whatever it was. It looked like a bow but smaller. 

"Never seen a crossbow before? Not surprised. Kind of a Dawnguard specialty. Nothing better for putting down vampires. Here why don't you take one and some bolts." Alessia took the bolts and crossbow then headed up to the fort. 

"You must be new. I'm Celann. Go on inside, Isran will want to talk to you." She nodded and head inside to the big fort, which looked more like a castle. 

When Alessia got inside she saw two men speaking about the Vigilants. Alessia was shocked to hear the most of the Vigilants were killed and that the Hall of Vigilants was destroyed by vampires. 

"So who are you, and what do you want?" The man in the same armor as Durak turned to Alessia as she stood off to the distance. She walked closer to the two men before answering. 

"I heard you were looking for vampire hunters." 

"Most of the people here are working on restoring the fort at the moment." Alessia nodded as she listened to the man. 

"How could I help?" 

"I need someone out on the field, taking the fight to the damn vampires, while we're getting the fort back into shape. Tolan was telling me about a cave some of the Vigilants were poking around in. He can tell you more about it." Alessia turned to the other man, Tolan. 

"Brother Adalvald was sure it held some long-lost vampire artifact of some kind. We didn't listen to him anymore than we did Isran. He was at the hall when it was attacked." 

"Go see what the vampires were looking for in this Dimhollow Crypt. With any luck, they'll still be there." Alessia looked at the other man, who she guessed was Isran. "Get some sleep before you go, there's some beds down that hall and we will have a horse ready for you by time you wake up." Alessia nodded and followed down the hall to find some beds. She quickly fell asleep once she laid down. 

* * *

Alessia woke up, probably a few hours later, and quickly put back on her armor. She headed outside the fort and saw a horse outside. 

"Lucky you, the first one to actually go and fight against the vampires." Alessia walked up to Celann who was at the stables with the horse. 

"Really excited you know, could spend my last few hours in a vampire infested cave." Celann smiled as Alessia got onto the horse and set off to Dimhollow Crypt. 

Alessia was glad she got a horse, it made the trip faster and easier on her part. She made a stop at Windhelm for the night and then continued to Dimhollow in the morning. It was dusk when she arrived to Dimhollow. She was glad she did arrive there since it was beginning to snow heavily. 

Inside she quickly knew that vampires were still there. Alessia found two at the entrance along with some type of dog. Almost in every room there were vampires, but they were no trouble for her. Once she arrived to a gate with a lever to open it, she saw a vampire fighting a large spider. The vampire quickly won and she opened the gate and quickly aimed an arrow at him which hit him in the heart. 

Alessia walked through a door on the other side of the room. Once she opened the door she heard people talking, she quietly walked up to the stairs and watched the people, two wearing vampire armor and another person on the ground dead. She quickly readied an arrow and began walking down the stairs, cursing to herself when she stepped on something that cracked. Even though the vampires heard her, they stood no chance as she also placed and arrow through each of their hearts. 

She walked down to retrieve her arrows then continued to an area that had multiple archs and braziers surrounding a pedestal with what seemed like a button. Nervously pressing the button, she tried to hold in a scream as a blade cut through the palm of her hand. 

Ignoring the wound she looked arround the room, a purple fog appeared around the her and the braziers. Realizing the braziers could move, she moved each one until a purple flame appeared on them and walked back to the pedestal. The floors caved in, creating stairs as something came from the ground behind her, large enough to hold a human. 

Alessia heard something hit the ground and she quickly turned around and readied an arrow at the sound.

"Who sent you here?" Alessia saw a woman on the ground, wearing similar armor to the vampires she previously fought. 

"A man named Isran." Alessia didn't lower her bow, still aiming at the woman's heart. 

"I don't know him, is he like me?" Alessia slowly lowered her bow, still keeping the arrow ready in case. 

"You're a vampire?" 

"Yes."

"Why were you locked away?" The vampire looked at Alessia, as if she was studying her for a moment. 

"It's complicated and I don't know if I can trust you. If you want to know the whole story, I need you to help me get back to my family's home." Alessia heard a sigh of relief as she put her arrow away along with her bow. 

"Where do you need to go?" 

"My family used to live on an island to the west of Solitude. I would guess they still do. By the way, my name is Serana. Good to meet you." Alessia looked down as Serana held out her hand as she smiled. "What's your name?" 

"Not important. You're lucky I'm not going to kill you since I was sent by vampire hunters." Serana quickly pulled her hand away and looked up at Alessia. She was only able to see her green eyes because of the hood and mask she was wearing. "I plan on taking you home and going my own way, hopefully never seeing you again. Let's just get out of here." 

Serana quickly followed behind Alessia as she made her way opposite of where she entered. She stopped as she heard the cracking of rocks, looking up the stairs in front of her to see some type of beast she's never seen before. 

"What the hell are those." Alessia quickly aimed and arrow at one of them but lowered it as it was hit with an ice spike, along with the other one. 

"Gargoyles. My mother's probably." Serana smirked as she walked past Alessia, glad that she was able to handle the gargoyles before she could even ready a bow. 

The next room had a couple draugr that were no match for their ice spikes and arrows. The following room had some skeletons which were much easier than the draugr in the previous room. Serana was about to continue walking before she felt a hand on her wrist, looking back to see the woman that saved her crouching down and looking across the room at a throne where a draugr was sitting. 

"It's not dead." Serana readied an ice spike before she received a glare from Alessia, she then quickly put it out and crouched down next to her. 

"So why don't we kill it?" Alessia looked to Serana and back to the draugr that began moving. Alessia cursed under her breathe before she unsheathed her sword and ran towards the draugr. 

_"Zun Haal Viik"_

Serana watched as a sword flew from the woman's grasp to the far side of the room. Serana ran as fast as she could as she used numerous ice spikes against the draugr, but they didn't slow it down. She pushed Alessia out of the way as she pulled out her dagger, glad she still had it after being locked away. She heard the woman run off and come back with a sword from one of the skeletons. 

After many minutes of dodging the draugr's great sword, Alessia finally found an advantage. She quickly ran under its sword and went behind it as Serana readied another ice spike that hit the draugr in the chest which made it stagger back into Alessia. The draugr quickly realized the person behind him and swung the sword the made a large gash in her side. Out of the corner of her eye, Serana saw the woman's sword and grabbed it. She ran back up to the draugr and stabbed the sword through its stomach, watching the blue light drain from its eyes. 

She quickly ran over to where the woman lay, a large amount of blood already pooling around her. Serana was barely in control, not having blood in what was most likely centuries. 

"I need you to stay with me. Do you have any like healing potions in your pack." Serana hesitated as there was no reply, the woman's breathe and heartbeat slowing down rapidly. Serana cursed and went into her pack, finding she did have multiple healing potions. She poured two over the wound, but there was barely any improvement on it. 

Serana began to panick unsure of what to do. She firmly pressed her hand against the wound, as it began to glow, hoping her healing magic would work on the woman. Her hand stopped glowing, along with the stop of the woman's breaths and heartbeat. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quests will be slightly different from the ones in the game if you didn't notice by this chapter. Thanks for reading again.


	3. Chapter 3

Serana wasn't sure how long she's been sitting in silence, other than the fire burning in the center of the arena style room. There were no heartbeats or breaths coming from her right, where her guide laid. It felt like hours since she heard the last heartbeat. Serana was about to lose hope but heard rapid a heartbeat next to her. 

"Hey stay down, don't hurt yourself again." Serana pushed her guide down before she sat up all the way. "I thought you were dead."

"Sometimes healing potions take awhile to kick in. Probably shouldn't make my own and just buy them from someone." Alessia slowly sat up while holding her side. She looked at the blood that was near her and back at Serana. "Alessia." 

"What?" Serana gave her a confused look as she helped her stand up. 

"My name is Alessia, I guess you deserve to know it since you saved my life." She looked over at the draugr and saw her sword sticking out from it and quickly grabbed it. 

"Oh uh it was really nothing." Alessia smiled at Serana before looking behind her and seeing a wall, one like she first saw at Bleakfalls Barrow. 

"Here lies the body of Svolo, who possessed strength to kill a dragon but not the stamina to kill many." Serana walked up behind her and recognized the ancient markings as dovahzul. 

"You know dovahzul?" 

"Yeah I started learning it about a year ago, I'm not that great at it though." Serana narrowed her eyes at her and watched as she traced a certain area of the wall over and over again. 

"I didn't know not being great at it means you could translate something that fast." Alessia rolled her eyes as she stopped tracing area on the wall. 

"Gaan. That means stamina." Feeling proud of herself, she walked towards the exit of the cave. Serana slowly followed behind her. "Slight problem." 

"What is it?" Serana tried to peak over Alessia's shoulder but was unsuccessful due to their height difference. 

"The sun is out. How long was I out for? When I got here it was nighttime." 

"It was awhile I think. I was more concentrated on not looking at all the blood. But I can go in the sun, it just exhausts me faster but won't really kill me if that's what you're asking." Alessia nodded and began walking out of the cave with Serana following her. 

"We can rest in Morthal if you can get that far then again in Solitude." Serana squinted and pulled up her hood as they stepped into the sun. 

"I think it's even worse now than it was before, being that it's been so long since I've been in the sun." Alessia looked back as Serana was trying to stay in the shade of the trees. 

"How long were you locked away?" Alessia led them to a path that would lead them to Morthal, hopefully by sunfall. 

"I'm not sure. Who's the High King?" Alessia chuckled before answering her question. Serana tried to imagine what her smile looking like under her mask, she wasn't even sure if she was a Nord or Imperial, all she knew that she definitely wasn't Khajiit or Argonian because there was no accent. 

"Depends. The Empire in Cyrodiil support Jarl Elisif while mostly all Nords support Ulfric Stormcloak who murdered High King Torygg." 

"There's an Empire in Cyrodiil?" 

"Yes. I'm actually named after the first Empress. The Empire was founded in the First Era." Serana only nodded in response, she figured that Alessia must be an Imperial because of her name. 

"So you're Imperial, or maybe from Cyrodiil?" Serana saw Alessia shudder once she finished, figuring it must be a tough subject for her to talk about. 

"Maybe. You never know I could be a Redguard for all you know." Alessia smirked as she looked to her side to see Serana not amused by her secrecy. 

"I can see your fingers. If you were trying to hide what race you are you could have done a bit better." 

"I could still be a Nord or Breton. I forgot to ask earlier, but is that an Elder Scroll?" Alessia pointed to the scroll on Serana's back as she stopped in the middle of the road. 

"You're changing the subject, and yes, it's an Elder Scroll." Alessia didn't ask anymore questions and continued walking. 

They both made it to Morthal before dark and quickly went inside the inn to escape the cold. Alessia got them rooms while Serana got them food and waiting for her at a table in the back corner. Serana stared at Alessia as she only stirred the soup around with a spoon and didn't eat. 

"Do you not like soup or something?" 

"I'll be right back I have to do something." Serana watched as Alessia quickly got up and walked out of the inn. 

Alessia walked over to near the Jarl's house that they passed by on the way into town. She remembered seeing a courier there, luckily he was still outside talking to someone. 

"Excuse me, I need you to take this to a woman named Lydia in Whiterun. Take it to Jarl Balgruuf and he will have someone to take it to her. This is for your travels." Alessia handed him the sealed letter and a bag of coins as she thanked him and walked back to the inn. Serana was still sitting at the table with a dark red bottle in front of her. 

"Please tell me you didn't already kill someone." Alessia looked at Serana and spoke quietly so only she could hear. 

"No I didn't. This guy noticed what I was and he gave it to me so I didn't go killing people." 

"Don't drink it if some random guy gave it to you it could be poison. People aren't to fond of vampires since they keep attacking every city." Alessia took the bottle and emptied its contents into the fireplace that was burning behind her. 

"I haven't had blood in who knows how many centuries, it feels like I'm for real dying this time." 

"I'm sure with a face like yours at least one of the guards would be willing to do whatever you say without you enthralling him." 

"You want me to go feed on a guard?" Serana sat back and crossed her arms waiting for Alessia's response. 

"It's not like they do their job anyway. Just go flirt with them and there you go, you got dinner." Serana rolled her eyes and stood up, walking out of the inn. 

When the door shut behind her, Alessia took off her mask but left her hood on. Many people in Skyrim knew what the Dragonborn looked like, she didn't want to draw attention when Serana was with her. She quickly ate the soup Serana brought her and headed to one of the rooms she rented and locked the door behind her. Not wanting to wait for Serana to come back, she took her armor off and quickly fell asleep. 

* * *

Alessia was right, a guard would do whatever you wanted if you attempted to flirt with them. Serana had a guard follow her a bit into the swamps before she fed on him, the guard not thinking anything of it. She did make sure she didn't kill him before heading back to the inn, not finding Alessia at the table they were at. She walked over by the rooms they rented, Alessia's door was shut but Serana was able to hear her steady breathing. Serana went to her room and laid down, not tired enough to fall asleep. 

As Serana was about to fall asleep after reading a book, she heard rapid heartbeats in the room next to her, Alessia's room. Unsure of what was going on she walked out of her room and over to the shut door. She cursed as she tried to open the door, finding it locked. She never had the need to know how to lock pick doors but now would be a good time for her to know. She quickly erased that thought from her mind, wanting to respect Alessia's privacy and headed back to her room. She successfully fell asleep, despite Alessia still having a heavy heartbeat in the room next to her. 

* * *

Serana woke up to knocking on her door the next morning. She opened the door to see Alessia already dressed, ready to take her back home. 

"Hurry and get dressed. I want to see if we can make it to your home without stopping in Solitude." Alessia didn't wait for her, making Serana having to quickly get dressed and meet her outside the inn. 

The whole trip was filled with silence. Serana wanted to ask what had happened last night but didn't want to offend Alessia by asking about her personal life to much. She wanted to get to know the person under the mask, so she took a risk by asking about it. 

"Why do you wear that mask?" 

"It's a long story, and I don't know if I can trust you." Serana rolled her eyes as Alessia used her own words against her. 

"I don't know the whole story about why I was locked away. Maybe if I did know it I would tell you after you almost died on me." 

"Why don't we take a break and you tell me what you know." Serana nodded as Alessia walked over to a wall of rocks and sat down against it. 

"My father found this prophecy before I got locked away, it stated something about vampires not being harmed by the sun again. He became obsessed with it and my mother felt it was unsafe for me to stay at our home for some reason. So she ran off with me and two Elder Scrolls, one of which I have. I don't know where she took the other or where she is." Serana saw Alessia staring at her lap not responding. "So about that mask of yours." 

"Not happening." The smirk on Serana's face quickly vanished as Alessia stood up and went back to the road to Solitude. 

"Not fair." 

"I'm here to take you home, not make friends. We are almost to the Solitude docks we can maybe get a boat there to get you home." They crossed the bridge into Dragon's Bridge and quickly found their way to the docks. 

"Need a ship to go somewhere?" Serana saw a man sitting on the docks that Alessia approached. 

"We need to go to an island northwest of here. This should cover it." Alessia handed him a large bag of gold, and the guy gave her an amused look. 

"I'm not taking you anywhere near there, the place is cursed." The man handed back the gold, but Alessia wasn't done with him. Serana saw her take off her mask, but was still unable to see her face as she kept her hood up. "Oh I'm sorry ma'am I didn't see who you were with the mask and all. Please come aboard I'll take you as far as I can to your location." 

Serana and Alessia got on the boat and sat behind the man, next to each other. Serana was wondering, who exactly Alessia was for a man to take them to a place he wasn't willing to go for a normal citizen. 

"Stop looking at me like that." Serana looked away from Alessia and to her lap. 

"Who really are you? You take off that mask and one person was willing to do whatever you wanted them to do." 

"Let's just get you home, then maybe we can discuss who we are over some mead." Serana sensed the sarcasm in her voice and decided it wasn't worth it to try and argue with her. 

After a few hours on the boat, the man stopped near a small dock with another boat that Serana recognized. She used it whenever her and her mother needed to travel to land and go to one of the cities. 

"This is as far as I can take you. Stay safe, you definitely need it." Serana heard Alessia chuckle as the man hurried away, back the way they came. 

Serana climbed onto the boat after Alessia, who took the oars and began rowing them to an island. After about ten minutes of rowing, Serana's home came into view. 

"Could have told me you were a princess." Serana glared at Alessia who was laughing at herself. 

"I'm not a princess, just hurry up please." 

"Whatever you say princess." Serana rolled her eyes and watched as they arrived closer to the shore. Once they reached shore Serana led them across a bridge and to a gate. 

"Is that really you Serana?" Serana nodded at the older looking man guarding the gate. He quickly opened it and allowed them both to enter the castle. 

"You're trespassing I suggest you leave. Oh Serana I didn't recognize you at first, my apologies." Serana nodded as a vampire walked to a staircase with them following. "Everyone Serana has returned." 

"They must have been expecting you princess." Serana ignored her as she walked down a set of stairs into the center of the room. 

"Serana, my daughter, you have returned. I trust that you kept my Elder Scroll safe." Alessia stayed behind Serana as a man approached them. 

"Really father, more concerned about a Scroll than you're own daughter." Serana crossed her arms and glared at her father. 

"I was concerned about both. Now who is this you brought to my castle?" 

"She is the one who freed me and brought me here. Alessia this is my father Harkon." Alessia stepped from behind her and nodded at Harkon. 

"Yes, I am Lord Harkon, welcome to Volkihar Castle. Now, you are probably expecting some type of payment for bringing back my prized possession and daughter. The one thing I can offer is a thing any man could dream of. I offer you my blood and a place to join our family." Harkon smiled as he looked at Alessia. 

"I'm not interested in being one of you." 

"Maybe you don't exactly know what I offer. Let me show you the power you will have." Alessia stepped back as Harkon changed to a blue, winged monster. "This is what I offer you with my blood." 

"Again, I'm not interested. I came here to bring your daughter home and then leave, so I will be leaving now." Alessia turned away as the room became even more silent than it was before. 

"Alessia. Don't leave." Alessia looked behind her and saw a panicked look on Serana's face. 

"What?" 

"Do you really dare to turn your back on me mortal? Only I can dismiss you." Alessia turned back and looked at Harkon, who now had some sort of magic flowing at his claws. "I vanish you from my castle, as you are prey now." 

The magic at his hands now hit Alessia, as everything became blurry. She thought she heard Serana yelling but was unsure, as everything went black. She felt something soft under her, maybe the ground. Before she could take in her surroundings she passed out. 


	4. Chapter 4

"You have a great way of welcoming your only daughter back home." Serana watched as the purple faded away and Alessia was no longer there. She glared at her father, "Without her I wouldn't even be here."

"I don't allow those that insult me and turn their back on me into the castle." Harkon crossed his arms after he turned back to his human form. "You look thirsty, why don't we head to the dungeon and talk." 

"I'm not going to have family bonding over talking while draining some cattle dry." Serana began walking away, but paused and looked back at her father. "You're worse now than before I left." 

"You just saw what happens when one turns their back to me, so why do you do the same?" 

"Because I know when I have the Elder Scroll with me you wouldn't dare hurt me, you care to much about the Scroll." Before Harkon could reply Serana was already outside looking around for Alessia. 

She spotted her near the boat, laying on the ground. Quickly running to her side, she picked her up and set her in the boat, rowing them away from Castle Volkihar. 

"Fucking bloodsucker." Alessia sat up as the boat hit the land across the sea. She sat there for a minute before realizing she wasn't alone. 

"I think I like princess better than bloodsucker." Serana tried to contain her amusement as she got out of the boat. She then helped Alessia to her feet and out of the boat. 

"Trust me you're a princess, but your father on the other hand." Alessia made a tsking noise as she began to walk away then stopped. "Wait why are you here?"

"I didn't like how he treated you, since you did save me. Then he suggested we have family bonding in the room where he keeps his cattle." 

"You must like me a lot to come with me then spend time with your father and cattle." 

"There's something about you that keeps drawing me in." There was no lie to it, since they met Serana felt different around her than she did other mortals. 

"I hope you didn't plan on going on a tour of Skyrim with me because I have stuff to do." 

"So you're letting me join you?" Serana smiled as she walked up next to Alessia who was deep in thought. 

"I guess, but I will have rules for this. First, don't feed on innocent people, especially ones in major towns. Stick to bandits." Alessia paused, still deep in thought. 

"Take your time I have forever." 

"Oh! Don't even think about feeding from me cause not to many people will be happy about it and you'll be lucky if you live a week after people find out." 

"You just ruined tonight's plans then." Alessia ignored her and began walking towards a fort then crouching near a rock. "What are you doing?" 

"There's Thalmor in the fort, I'd rather not mess with them. Keep your head down and they shouldn't bother us." Alessia stood up and walked parallel to the fort, keeping her head down. 

Serana followed, doing the same. They quickly made it past the fort without any commotion. 

"We can stay the night at Solitude then get a carriage to Whiterun. It will take close to 3 days to get there on carriage." Alessia led the way to Solitude with Serana following behind. 

They made it there by nightfall, Alessia quickly walked over to the fire as they made it to The Winking Skeever. Her armor didn't keep her as warm as she hoped as they walked through the snow. 

"Do you ladies need a room for the night?" Alessia looked up and saw a man, most likely the innkeeper. 

"Yes could I get two rooms please." The man nodded and walked away as Serana walked up to her. 

"So what's in Whiterun?" Alessia sighed as she sat down at a nearby table. 

"My home, and someone, a really great friend I guess you could say. Before I left and found you I didn't leave us on good terms." Serana nodded as the innkeeper walked up to them again. 

"We only have one room available but the bed is big enough for both of you. I apologize if it's an inconvenience." Alessia only nodded as she took coins out of her bag and handed them to him. 

"We will take it anyway, no need to apologize." Serana raised her eyebrows at Alessia. 

She leaned forward and whispered into her ear. "You know, being close to you only increases the chances of me draining you." 

"Half of Skyrim will be after you if you did that. So please go ahead." Alessia smirked as she walked upstairs to the large room.

Serana made her way up to the bedroom after finishing her drink to find Alessia doing something to her sword. She quickly changed into a nightgown while Alessia had her back towards her. 

"Why are you fixing up your sword if you barely use it? I've only seen you use your bow." Serana sat down next to her as she watched Alessia continue. 

"I'm better with a bow but it has limits to it. Close combat with a sword is easier than with a bow, and I prefer having a distance between me and whoever or whatever is trying to kill me." Serana expected her to move away from her, but she didn't. 

She watched Alessia as she sheathed her sword and set it on a table along with her gloves. She took off her boots and set them under the table. 

"I'm not a fan of having an audience." Alessia sensed Serana watching her as she set her bow against the wall along with her quiver. 

"Act like I'm not here then." Serana sat back in the bed as Alessia stayed turned away from her. 

She then took off her armor, leaving the hood and mask for last. Serana looked at her, up and down, shocked by the number of scars she had just on her back. Most looked like they were intentional, not just from fighting. 

She turned her attention away from her back as the hood was finally taken off, blonde, wavy hair falling past Alessia's shoulders. The mask was then taken off, the moment Serana secretly waiting for. Alessia then put on a nightgown, similar to Serana's, and took a deep breath. 

"Was the show all that you expected?" 

"I still didn't see your face so it's not over yet." Serana smirked as Alessia looked at her feet and shook her head. 

"Are vampires more interested in feeding on someone if they have good looks, if so then you might want to get another room or like outside somewhere." Alessia picked up her mask and seemed to clean off dirt from what it looked like. 

"I'm not going to feed on you we already talked about this." Serana got up to go where Alessia was. She took the mask from her hands and set it where the rest of her armor lay. 

Serana looked up and met the green eyes that she first met multiple days ago. She then looked at the rest of her face, two scars on her right cheek, and one near her left eyebrow. Alessia's lips were parted slightly, as if she was about to say something. 

Dark markings on her bicep caught Serena's eye, a permanent marking, maybe just paint that hadn't been washed off yet. Two rings that wrapped around her arm, both the same size. Serana attempted to trace the lines, but Alessia flinched back once their skin met. 

"Sorry it's just that I haven't met many people with marking like that." Serana looked back up to her eyes, which didn't meet hers as Alessia was looking at the two lines. 

"It's fine, you're fingers were just cold, that's all." If not for her being a vampire, Serana wouldn't have been able to hear her. "I think I'll go to sleep. Goodnight Serana." 

Serana wanted to ask what the lines meant. She knew that Alessia didn't move away just because her hands were cold. 

* * *

Alessia woke up to an empty bed. Serana had woken her up multiple times because of her nightmares, but she never asked what they were about. 

By time Alessia was dressed and getting all her gear together Serana was back. 

"You got a little something." Alessia laughed as she pointed to the corner of Serana's mouth, who quickly wiped it with her sleeve. 

"Sorry I left without telling you, I haven't feed since we were in Morthal." 

"Good thing you did, wouldn't want you coming after me or our carriage driver." Serana was glad she was finally able to see what Alessia's smile looked like, it was more than she imagined. 

"So off to Whiterun?" Alessia nodded before putting on her mask and hood, following Serana out the door. 

Outside the inn there was a crowd of people, all shouting various things about the Stormcloaks and Ulfric. Alessia's eyes instantly moved to where someone with the legion and a headsman stood by a man who wore ragged clothes and had his hands bound together. 

"Serana let's go." Alessia pulled on her arm but she didnt move, to busy watching the crowd. "Serana." 

"Do you know him?" Serana pulled her arm from Alessia's grasp and turned to look at her. 

"No I don't. I can't watch what they are about to do to him." Alessia turned away towards the doors, not caring if she was leaving Serana behind. 

Serana didn't stay behind though, approaching Alessia as she made it a few steps out of Solitude. "You can go through a cave of vampires, probably caves of more than that, but can't watch an execution?"

"I can't watch executions, nothing wrong with that. Sometimes those who are executed are innocent and they let the guilty slip right through their fingers." Alessia climbed into the carriage and told the driver where to take them. When Serana climbed in she kept a distance between her and Alessia. 

"Just because I have all these scars doesn't mean I can fight or spend my time doing so, most aren't even from fighting." Serana looked up to see Alessia with her mask and hood off, staring at her hands. "I think it was luck that I survived in Dimhollow." 

Alessia looked up at Serana, her face blank as she stared back at her. Both were waiting for one another to say something, but nothing was spoken. 

It was the second time a trip of theirs was silent, it never seemed to bother them. The carriage driver constantly tried to make conversations with them, nether Alessia or Serana were interested. 

"Alessia, how close is the next village or city?" Alessia looked up from a piece of paper that she had been repeatedly reading for the past hour. 

"Up over the hill is Rorikstead, why?" 

"I smell fire." Alessia looked up towards the hill and saw smoke, definitely coming from Rorikstead. 

"Sorry to bother, but could you move just a tad bit faster please? At least till we get over the hill." The driver nodded and urged the horse to move faster. 

Once they got over the hill, Alessia got out of the carriage followed by Serana. Alessia quickly caught sight of a guard leaning against one of the mostly burnt buildings. Serana stayed back, hoping she could still hear them but they were out of her hearing range. 

"What happened here?" Alessia helped the guard to sit down then handed him a healing potion. 

"A dragon. It flew off to the west, I wouldn't be surprised if it comes back." Alessia nodded and walked back over to Serana. 

"Tell the carriage driver to go back the way he came, it's not safe for us to continue to Whiterun tonight. I have to go to the inn real quick and I'll be back out." Serana nodded as Alessia quickly walked passed her to the inn. 

"Alessia your mask?" 

"Now isn't the appropriate time to be using it." Alessia walked into the inn, all of Rorikstead was hiding in there since it was the only building not completely burnt down. "You better hope you have some guards left here." 

"Yes Dovahkiin we do, we are here." Alessia crossed her arms as five guards approached her. 

"If you were helping you wouldn't be hiding away in here and fighting the dragon." Alessia paused for a moment, putting her ear against the door. "I think he's back, let's go." 

Alessia walked back outside to see Serana standing on the porch, eyes wide, staring at the sky. "I hope you don't intend on fighting that thing." 

"That thing is a dragon and yes I do intend on fighting it, I already was in two dragon attacks. What's one more gonna do." Serana sensed the hesitation in her voice as she got her bow and readied an arrow as the dragon landed on the building across from them. 

Alessia shot her arrow at the dragon, barely making it through its tough skin. After her second arrow hit it an ice spike easily went through its skin. The dragon left where it was on the building after multiple arrows and ice spikes hit it and flew around Rorikstead, burning whatever it could. 

"Serana get inside the inn." Alessia stood in front of Serana as the dragon landed multiple yards in front of them. 

"I'm not leaving you out here to fight a dragon." 

"I'm not going to stand here letting you help knowing that fire harms you more than it harms me." Alessia ran down from the porch on the inn and jumped over a fence to get a better view of the dragon. Serana followed her, readying another ice spike. 

"I'm not leaving you." Alessia looked at her and smiled lightly before shooting another arrow. 

Before either of them could ready another arrow or ice spike, the dragon turned its attention to them. 

_"Yol Toor Shul"_

Alessia quickly pulled Serana behind what remained of a stone wall. Once the dragon's fire was done Alessia looked over to Serana. 

"Just go inside the inn." Alessia gave her a pleading look, still holding her in the protection of the stone wall. There was a loud crash near them, making them turn their attention to the inn.

"Looks like no one is going into the inn now, or getting out." They both moved to see the front of the inn, where the roof collapsed, blocking anyone from getting in or out. 

"Dammit. Follow me." Alessia ran off towards a hill with many large rocks. 

"What are you doing?" Serana stood next to Alessia as she handed Serana her bow and arrows, then taking out her sword. "I'm not going to like this am I?" 

"No, but what I'm going to do works. Just have to wait." 

Luckily Alessia didn't have to wait long until the dragon landed on building that was below them. Serana was unable to stop her before she ran and jumped off from a rock and landed on top of the dragon. 

"Of course the person that finds me is a stupid mortal." Serana moved to the edge of the rock, watching what Alessia was about to do. 

She saw her holding onto one of its horns with one hand and the other raising her sword above it's head. Serana was about to send an ice spike down until Alessia stabbed her sword into the dragons head, causing it to fall limp. Serana quickly jumped down to where Alessia was as she climbed off the dragons neck, pulling her sword with her. 

Alessia turned back to the dragon, as its body started to burn and a stream of light followed Alessia. Serana stared at her in confusion as only the skeleton of the dragon remained and Alessia glowed after the last streams of light disappeared. 

Alessia turned to Serana to explain, but hesitated when she saw her aiming an arrow at her.

"What are you?"


	5. Chapter 5

"What are you?" Serana was looking between Alessia and the dragon's skeleton.

"Serana..."

"Alessia just answer the question." Serana dropped the bow and put her hands up to show she wouldn't hurt her. 

"You're only going to look at me like everyone else in Skyrim does. They see me as a puppet, only here to save their world. I don't want to be seen as that, I want to be like anyone else here and Skyrim. I'm Alessia from Bravil, not the Dragonborn that's only here to save the world." Alessia walked away from Serana after she grabbed her bow, ignoring the guards that tried to stop and thank her. 

"Dragonborn, Dovahkiin. Started learning dovahzul a year ago my ass." Serana caught up with Alessia but didn't say a word, figuring they were still going to Whiterun. 

The sun was slowly rising over the mountains once they reached Whiterun stables. Serana followed Alessia up to the gates before she stopped. 

"Try not to talk to people when we get in here, it will be safer for you and me. Put the scroll in my bag, but you have to carry it." She grabbed the bag from her without a word, then they continued into the city. 

"My Thane, welcome back home. Shall I send for Lydia, last I saw she was in Dragonsreach." Serana pulled her hood up more to make sure her eyes were covered when the guard approached. 

"No that won't be necessary." Alessia barely looked at him as she answered, continuing to a home near the doors they entered. 

"Dragonborn and Thane. What's next, Arch Mage?"

"Magic isn't my thing, so no." Alessia opened the door and stepped to the side. "Go ahead princess." 

Serana entered the home, it felt welcoming other than the two weapon racks, one with swords and the other with bows. There was a set of chairs next to a fire, and more in a dining area with a table. Stairs led up to what Serana guessed was a bedroom. 

"A little small for someone with your status." 

"Better than sleeping in the streets." Alessia mumbled under her breathe, probably hoping Serana didn't hear but it sounded to her as if she was speaking at a normal tone of voice. 

Both turned their attention to the door as it opened and woman entered. She was wearing night clothes with a steel sword at her hip. She ignored Serana and walked right towards Alessia. 

"You're okay." The woman let out a sigh of relief, pulling Alessia into a hug. 

"Of course I'm fine. Did you get my letter?" Alessia pulled away first, holding the other woman's hand. For the first time in centuries, Serana felt a pain in her heart, jealousy. 

"No I didn't get a letter." 

"Couriers have always been useless. Wasted gold to get him here too." Alessia turned around and looked at Serana, then back at the woman. "Oh, Lydia this is Serana I'm helping her with some family issues." 

Serana nodded at Lydia before she spoke. "I need to go get something from the store, I'll be right back." As she walked to the door Alessia grabbed her by the arm, stopping her. 

"Remember what I said on the way here." Serana looked up at Lydia, hoping she didn't hear so she didn't have to question either of them. She only nodded and continued out the door. 

Alessia walked up to Lydia once the door was closed. She rested her forehead against Lydia's, then pulled her into another hug. 

"I'm sorry I basically walked out on you. You were doing your job, protecting me." 

"I haven't been protecting you because it's my job, I do it because I care." Lydia kissed her forehead before walking upstairs, leaving Alessia alone downstairs. 

Alessia sat down in one of the chairs in front of the fire. No one has ever really cared for her before, at least if someone did they never told her. So she never knew what it felt like to be cared for, sure Serana may have saved her in Dimhollow but she could have killed her not even a day ago. 

It actaully made sense that Lydia would care for her. Most housecarls did their job protecting their liege because they were told to. But Lydia actually cared for her, and it made Alessia happy. She hasn't felt happiness in years. 

* * *

Serana walked back to Breezehome to find Alessia asleep in one of the chairs near the fire. She lightly shook her shoulder, causing her to jump a bit. 

"Why don't you go to your bed, you didn't get to sleep last night." Alessia nodded and headed up the stairs. Serana heard her quickly lay on the bed, not bothering to take off her armor. 

After getting a couple pages into a book, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She looked up and saw Lydia walking over to the chair next to her. 

"Would you like to explain to me why Alessia brought home a vampire." Serana shut her book and set it on the nightstand next to her. 

"Like she said earlier, I have family issues that need major help." Serana saw that Lydia didn't believe her as she sat back and crossed her arms. "She was the only one willing to help."

"Let me guess, you see yourself as a good vampire. Only drinking blood from animals and what not. Your family on the other hand continues to feed from people, killing them, which you don't approve of." 

"I actually feed from people, but I don't kill them, or at least try not to." Serana smiled, showing off her fangs as Lydia slouched into her chair. 

"There are werewolves in this city that I won't hesitate to pay a visit to so they can get rid of you." 

"Werewolves have nothing on me. If only you knew." Serana picked the book back up to continue reading. She smirked when she heard Lydia get up and walk out of the home. 

After reading through a book about the Empire, Serana decided she should probably go to sleep. Walking up the stairs she saw two doors, past the one on the right she could hear Alessia's steady heartbeat. She walked into the room on the left which had a small bed and nightstand. 

She scrunched her nose after she ran her fingers over the stand, looking at the dust on her fingers. Serana guessed that Lydia didn't use the room by seeing how her and Alessia hugged each other when they first arrived. There was another pain in her heart, was she really jealous of Alessia being with someone? Serana didn't want to think anymore about it so she laid down, listening to the steady heartbeat in the room next to her as she fell asleep. 

* * *

Alessia woke up a few hours later, of course another nightmare. She looked to the other side of the bed and saw it empty, no wonder she was in the nightmare for so long. Getting up from the bed and walking through the door, she noticed Serana sleeping in the other room. She smiled before going downstairs to see Lydia sitting at the table. With the Elder Scroll in front of her. 

"Why do you go away, then come back with an Elder Scroll and a vampire?"

"The Elder Scroll came with her. It has to do with her family issues." Alessia grabbed the scroll and put it back in her bag before sitting across from Lydia. 

"What are we going to do if she tries to kill one of us?" 

"She saved my life." Alessia mumbled, unsure if Lydia was able to hear her. 

"No." Lydia looked at her in disbelief. Alessia nodded before running up the stairs and coming back down in a regular shirt. Alessia stood in front of Lydia and lifted her shirt, showing the scar she acquired in Dimhollow.  

"This is from a draugr, not even an hour after we met. She healed it and stayed with me until I woke up. She could have just left me to bleed out or even take my blood and leave. She didn't though, she was in control after not tasting blood in forever." 

"She may be in control but it's not easy for her when you're around her I bet. Same blood as a dragon, the best meal a vampire could get. I'm not letting that happen so she needs to leave." 

"I don't want to leave like this Lydia." Alessia brought her hand to her head before leaning against the wall. 

"Why would you leave?" 

"I need to go back to the Dawnguard and tell them what happened. Serana is going with me so you don't have to worry about her being near you." 

"Where are we going?" Alessia saw Serana walking down the stairs, still stretching from sleeping. 

"To tell the Dawnguard about our visit with your father. I'm going to get ready now, you should too." Serana nodded as Lydia walked out of the house for a second time. It didn't take long for Alessia to change into black leather armor, different than the one she was wearing earlier. Serana smiled when she saw that she only had a hood on. 

"I get the pleasure of seeing your face all the way to Fort Dawnguard?" Alessia glared at her as she grabbed a sword that glowed red from the weapon rack. She also grabbed a grayish colored bow and steel arrows. 

"If you walk slow you'll be seeing the back of my head." Serana smiled as she walked outside ahead of Alessia. As soon as she stepped out the door she stopped, not enjoying the smell in the air. 

"Alessia it smells like wet dog here." 

"Watch your mouth, the twins won't be happy about you calling them wet dogs." Alessia looked over towards the inn and she saw Vilkas and Farkas. 

"Oh they're werewolves. I've never been around one before." 

"Yeah let's go before they find out I brought you here, they don't like vampires." Serana looked back over towards the inn and saw one looking at her, smirking. She quickly followed after Alessia outside of the city. 

They took their time walking in silence, Serana tried to keep up with Alessia but the sun was becoming unbearable. Alessia stopped before a pair of two towers, waiting for Serana. 

"You know, you don't have to wait for me." Serana sat down on a tree that fell across the road. Alessia was watching the towers, looking for any sign of people there. 

_"Laas Yah Nir."_

"Remember I don't speak dragon." Serana didn't get an answer as Alessia started moving towards the tower. She rolled her eyes and followed her until she stopped against a mountain of rocks. 

"There's five people there I think. If they were all inside we would be able to get past but there's someone outside the tower on the road. I won't be surprised if they ask for some gold from us." 

"How do you know that?" Serana tried to concentrate and listen for heartbeats but she only heard Alessia's. 

"The shout lets me detect life, much more useful than a detect life spell. I can detect different forms and at a greater distance. It's a vampire thing to be able to go invisible right?" 

"Yeah I can it just takes some concentration. If you want we can both be invisible and sneak past them." 

"I don't have any invisibility potions with me." 

"You don't need a potion with me around. Give me your hand and don't make a sound." Alessia held up her hand which Serana grabbed. She closed her eyes and then Alessia was no longer able to see her, but still felt her hand grasping onto hers. 

"Can you see me?" Alessia looked down at her hand which was visible to her. 

"Be quiet it's easier for me to do this." 

She felt her hand being pulled, as she began to walk. They walked as fast as they could without being detected by any of the bandits in the tower. Serana looked over to the second tower, seeing a bandit with a bow, aiming right at them. She looked back at Alessia, her eyes going wide as she was visible. 

"Alessia run." 

There was no time for her to ask questions before she was being dragged by Serana down the road. Alessia struggled to keep up, trying not to trip over the rocks in the road and watching out for arrows once she realized what was happening. 

"Serana I think we can st-" Alessia ran into something, no someone, as she looked back and saw no bandits in sight and no arrows flying at them. 

"If you wanted to be so close to me you could have just asked." Serana smirked as she felt Alessia's body against hers. She heard her heart start to beat faster as her face blushed. 

"We should rest a few minutes before continuing." Alessia walked around her and sat on a stone wall near the road. 

"You're bleeding." Alessia looked up and saw Serana still standing in the same spot, pointing to her leg. 

"Scared of a bit of blood?" Alessia's had glowed as the small cut disappeared from her leg. She wiped the remaining blood off her leg with her finger. "Want some?" Alessia smirked as she showed Serana the blood on her finger. 

"How come you can go from grumpy to teasing in less than a minute?" Serana walked over and sat next to Alessia. 

"I am never grumpy." 

"Whatever you say." Serana grabbed Alessia's wrist and looked at the blood on her finger. "Still offering?" 

"I never was actually offering, just wondering if you were interested." 

"I think I need it after making _two_ people in visible." 

"Have fun then." Alessia watched as Serana wiped the blood on her own finger and brought it to her mouth. 

"Lydia was right, dragon blood is pretty good." 

"You heard that?" 

"Great hearing, couldn't really tune it out." Alessia sighed and pulled two bottles out of her bag, handing one to Serana.

"I've done some pretty stupid things in the year that I've known her but she's never acted like this before." She took a drink before continuing, "I mean I guess she is doing her job because she is my Housecarl." 

"You can add helping one of the oldest vampires to the list of stupid things you've done." 

"I like to see this as me being a good person for once, not being stupid. I could go on for days about stupid things I did before I even came to Skyrim." 

"Name one, if you are willing to share." Alessia looked at her and thought for a moment. 

"The tattoo on my arm, I got it after coming here. It means something really important to me that I left behind in Bravil. Leaving Bravil was somewhat stupid and smart." 

"So the tattoo represents Bravil?" 

"No it's who I left behind in Bravil." Alessia paused, taking a deep breath. "I was born in Bravil, which is probably one of the worst places to live in Cyrodiil. My mother didn't know who my father was, I wouldn't be surprised if she slept with every man in that city. When I was ten my mother gave birth to twins, a girl and a boy. By the time I was fifteen and they were five I was the one taking care of them. They're fifteen now."

"So the tattoo reminds you of them then?" Alessia nodded before drinking the rest of her mead before throwing it to the side. 

"The nine years that it was just us we lived out on the streets, struggling to find more than two meals for a day. When I turned twenty four I made the stupid decision of doing the same thing my mother did to us. I left in the middle of the night, not explaining why. Every day I think about what would happen if I see them again and if they would forgive me. I don't know if they would because I wouldn't forgive my mother if I saw her again." Serana didn't answer, only placing her hand over Alessia's. They sat like that for a few minutes before Serana said something. 

"Well after we take care of whatever my father is doing, I'll help you find them." Alessia looked up at her, Serana just noticing that she had been or was crying. 

"You'd do that?" 

"It's the least I can do since you are helping me." Alessia nodded and pulled Serana into a tight hug. 

"Thank you." Alessia pulled away, kissing Serana on the cheek. Serana knew if she wasn't a vampire her face would have been bright red. 


	6. Chapter 6

After another day of walking they made it to Windhelm, but stopped at Kynesgrove to rest. When they arrived there were many people on the main road looking towards the town. 

"What's going on?" Alessia shrugged her shoulders at Serana. 

"Don't go up there, a dragon is attacking." A woman grabbed Alessia by the arm, looking startled. 

"Me and my friend can take care of it, keep everyone out of Kynesgrove." The woman nodded as she walked back to the crowd on the road. 

"We are going to take care of a dragon, just us?" 

"We've done it once we can do it again. This time just don't threaten me with my own bow." 

Walking past the mine one a small path they crouched down behind a rock. In the distance they saw large dragon flying over a burial mound. 

 _"Sahloknir, ziil gro dovah ulse!"_ Alessia eyes grew wide once she recognized the voice of the dragon, quickly readying and arrow to aim at the dragon.  

"It's Alduin." 

"The World Eater." Serana was about to let an ice spike go but stopped when Alessia put her hand over hers. 

"Reading my books I see. Stay here I can handle this, I think." Serana was about to argue but Alessia quickly took off and stood behind a rock, realizing what Alduin was doing. 

_"Slen Tiid Vo!"_

"Serana go back over there." 

"What is he doing?" They were watching the area around the mound, startled when a skeleton of a dragon rose from it. 

"He's the one bringing dragons back. You should know that if you read some of my books." 

 _"Ful, losei Dovahkiin? Zu'u koraav nid nol dov do hi. Sahloknir, krii daar joorre."_ Alessia laughed as Alduin flew away towards the mountains and the other dragon started walking towards them. 

"Only you would laugh when a dragon is walking towards us." 

"I'm laughing because he called you mortal. He also doesn't think I have any dragon in me." Alessia shot an arrow at the dragon as Serana slightly chuckled. If she didn't know Alessia was Dragonborn earlier, she would have been able to tell by how strong her blood was. 

"Of all the places I find the Dragonborn." Alessia stopped when she looked to her left and saw a woman in armor with her sword drawn. "You never answered my letters." 

"I'm not chatting with you when there's a dragon here. If you live maybe we can talk." 

After multiple arrows and ice spikes hitting the dragon, it was finally weakened and no longer able to fly. Alessia dropped her bow and unsheathed her sword, walking towards the dragon. 

_"I do not fear you, Dovahkiin!"_

"You should, I may not use my Voice much and it may not be strong but I can easily defeat a dragon." Alessia quickly ran under the dragons head, stabbing her sword through its neck. 

The dragon fell limp, then its skin burned as Alessia absorbed its soul. She grabbed her sword glad to see it hasn't broken. The only swords she keeps are ones that lasted through more than one dragon. 

"Good. You really are Dragonborn. Who's your friend?" Alessia walked past the woman and grabbed her bow, then stopping next to Serana. 

"None of your business. I have stuff to do so make it quick." 

"She could be with the Thalmor." 

"Her name is Serana and she isn't with the Thalmor. If she was I'm sure she would have done something to me since they know I'm the Dragonborn." 

"It's not safe to talk here so meet me in Riverwood at the inn." Alessia groaned and looked at the woman. 

"Listen I don't even know your name. You expect me just to come visit you. What if you're a Thalmor spy?" 

"My name is Delphine and I'm one of the last members of the Blades. I think the Thalmor are behind this. As you just saw dragons are being brought back to life by a dragon only you can defeat." 

"Yeah I'm not interested. Serana lets go." Alessia walked off with Serana, leaving Delphine to watch them go away. 

"Why would the Thalmor have something to do with the dragons?" Alessia laughed before answering Serana. 

"I've heard people say that the Blades are a little out of it. Not saying it's true though but I don't trust them either way." Alessia pulled down her cowl and loosened one of the buckles on her armor. 

"I haven't even known you for a month don't go getting undressed for me." Serana watched as Alessia continued to mess with buckles on her armor. 

"I'm not. This armor is just uncomfortable." 

"Then why did you wear it?" 

"Well considering my other armor has a rip on the side this is the best I got. If we stop in Riften it might be better if I wear this too." She finally stopped messing with buckles and looked up at Serana. 

"What does armor have to do with Riften?" 

"Let's just say some people in Riften aren't my biggest fans." 

The rest of their trip was uneventful, unless someone included fighting wolves an interesting story. There was an occasional conversation, mostly Alessia catching Serana up about things that had happened since she has been locked away. 

Once they reached Riften near nightfall they were ready to sleep. Four guards blocked the doors as they approached. 

"There's a visitors tax to enter the city. 100 gold each." One guard approached them, the rest carefully watching. 

"You're making a Guild member pay? I also happen to be the Dragonborn if you don't recognized me." Serana wondered what Alessia met by Guild. 

"My apologies, you and your companion may enter." The guards stepped aside as they opened the doors. The smell of the water and fishery quickly hit Serana. 

"What Guild are you a member of?" Serana kept her voice low, unsure if Alessia wanted other people to know about what or who she was with. 

"Thieves Guild. I'm sort of the Guild Master. We stay in the Ratway here, there's a tavern there called the Ragged Flagon." They walked over a bridge and to a building, Serana figured it was the inn for the rest of the people in Riften. 

"So Guild armor then?" Alessia nodded as they entered and walked up to the counter and sat on the stools. An Argonian woman glared at Alessia as she smiled at her. 

"It's been awhile Keerava. How's the business?" Serana noticed that Keerava clearly didn't like Alessia, but the way she spoke. 

"If you're here to collect money from me don't bother, I already paid at the beginning of the month." Keerava handed both of them a bottle of mead as she carefully watched Alessia. "If I were you I would take a trip to wherever your people stay to check and see if you still have any authority over them." 

"I trust Brynjolf has made sure they know I'm still at the highest status there. I may not visit but I still make sure we are still running." Alessia handed over a small bag of gold before leading Serana upstairs to a room with two beds. 

"If you want you can go down to see how things are there." Serana took off her cloak and laid it on the bed, looking back at Alessia. 

"I don't need to. I'm sure I'll run into Sapphire in the morning, she likes to come here early." Alessia was about to grab something from her pack when there was a knock on the door. 

"Alessia, Thane of Whiterun?" Alessia opened the door to see a courier, two letters in his hand.

"That would be me." The courier handed her one of the letters then left without another word. 

"Who's it from?" Serana watched as Alessia had her back turned away from her, reading the letter. 

"No one. It's uh, not important." Alessia threw the letter into the fire place and laid down on the bed. "Get some sleep so we can get to the Dawnguard by the afternoon." 

Serana couldn't sleep that night. Every so often she would wake Alessia up from a nightmare, some worse than others. 

Before the sun rose Serana went and found a guard to feed from so their trip to Fort Dawnguard wouldn't be so bad. When she got back to the inn, she saw Alessia sitting with another woman in similar armor laughing with her. Serana walked over and sat next to Alessia, smiling at the woman across the table. 

"So the you left to run around with vampires then? A pretty one too." 

"I was trying to go with the vampire hunters. Serana this is Sapphire, she's with the Guild." Neither of them said anything, just nodded. "I trust that you and Brynjolf will keep everything in order down there." 

"Are you gonna pay us a visit once you are done with the vampires then?" 

"I would have visited today but I don't have the time for it. Maybe on the way back through." Alessia slide a piece of paper over to Sapphire before leaning over the table and whispering something in her ear. "What I'm pointing at is that I would like you and Brynjolf to help lead with me, so you two are in charge when I'm gone." 

Alessia got up and walked towards the door, nodding her head for Serana to follow. Once they were outside the sun was just rising and Serana was already wanted to go back inside. 

* * *

After walking for a couple hours they made it to an entrance of a cave. Alessia led Serana through the narrow entrance that opened to a large space with trees and a pond of water. 

They made is to a gated entrance in front of the large fort. As Alessia was opening the gate she heard the click of a crossbow. 

"Alessia." Alessia turned back to see Serana holding a hand over her stomach, over a steel bolt. 

"Shit, come here." Alessia grabbed Serana and led her to a tree, helping her sit down against it. 

"How bad is it?" Serana didn't want to look at the wound, closing her eyes as she leaned her head against the tree. 

"It would be better if it was nighttime. It's like a normal human wound I guess." Alessia moved Serana's hands and added pressure from her own. 

"Only blood can heal me, potions or magic won't do anything." Alessia cursed after her hands stopped glowing from trying to heal Serana. 

"This might hurt." Serana didn't time to ask what she was doing before Alessia pulled the bolt out of her. 

"I need to get out of the sun." Alessia looked behind her, three people in Dawnguard uniform aiming their crossbows at them. 

"Alessia. Welcome back, it's been what a week or two since I sent you to Dimhollow. Most of us thought you were dead." Alessia turned around and saw Isran, arms crossed and smiling. "I hope you aren't expecting me to help that thing." 

"If you want to do anything about the vampires you need her alive." 

"I can see you became quite fond of it. Neither of you are welcome here anymore. I don't care if you are a vampire or not Alessia. Why don't you leave before I have them put arrows through your hearts." Isran walked away and shut the gates behind him. The crossbows were still aimed at them. 

"Serana stay awake, I'll get you out of here okay?" Serana nodded as Alessia helped her to her feet. "Keep your hand pressed against the wound." 

They didn't make it far before Serana could no longer walk. Alessia easily picked her up and started running as fast as she could to get out of the canyon. Once they reached outside Alessia set Serana down against the rocks. 

"I won't make it to Riften. Take the Scroll, find someone to read it and stop my father. Go back to Lydia then and get like a farm and take care of yourself." Serana went to grab the Scroll from her bag but Alessia stopped her. 

"You're going to make it and help me with this. I won't be going back to Lydia. The letter I got was from her, saying that she joined the Companions and was no longer to my service as Housecarl. She's not mine to go home to anymore." Alessia took off one of her gloves and moved closer to Serana. "Here, you said you need blood." 

"Are you sure?" Alessia only nodded and moved her wrist to Serana's mouth. 

"If it means saving you then yes." Serana didn't hesitate any longer before taking Alessia's wrist and drinking blood from it. 

Serana had to stop herself quickly before she drank to much from Alessia. As soon as she let go of her wrist Alessia's hand glowed as the two marks disappeared. She moved her hand to where the bolt had hit Serana, there was no longer any sign of injury other than her clothing having a hole in it. 

"You okay?" Alessia looked up, shocked that Serana was the one to ask that question. 

"As long as that doesn't turn me I guess I'm okay. I should be the one asking that anyway." 

"That won't turn you. I'm okay though, thank you." Alessia smiled as she helped Serana stand up. 

"I guess since that didn't work out, we could take a visit to the Thieves Guild." They walked back to the road, side by side, shoulders touching. 

"Sounds fun. Spending time with a bunch of thieves." 

"You've been spending a lot of time with me so it's not that bad." Alessia lightly bumped into her, but Serana didn't move at all. 

"Can I ask you something before we get close to the city?" Serana stopped and looked up at Alessia. 

"Yeah what's wrong?" 

"Nothing. When I feed from you, you said you were okay as long as it didn't turn you." Alessia gave her a confused look as Serana continued. "If I asked you to turn, would you? Like you know me and you, two friends traveling across Skyrim, maybe all of Tamriel together for eternity." Serana smiled as Alessia contemplated what she was just asked, before she also smiled.  

"Maybe. If you were the one to do it. Just maybe." 


	7. Chapter 7

When they got to Riften the second time, the guards didn't attempt to tax them for entering the city. Alessia led them to the Temple of Mara so they could take the shortcut. 

"I don't know what's worse this or the sun." Serana near the wall leading to the temple. 

"Huh?" Alessia saw her grabbing her head, slowly walking towards her. 

"Do you know how I became a vampire?" 

"No I never really thought about, most get turned by a bite right?" Alessia stopped Serana from walking and moved her back towards the main road in the city. 

"I was  _blessed_ by Molag Bal. Not a fun experience but that's a whole other story. As you probably know he's a Daedric Prince. So whenever I'm around something Aedric, it feels like there are hundreds of suns shining down on me."

"We could go through the Ratway. The shortcut is behind the temple." Alessia pointed to a path that led behind the temple, it looked like there was a small cemetery on the other side.

"The Ratway doesn't sound fun. I can live through walking past it, or as much I can live." Serana started walking towards the path, what made everything worse was that the sun was out also. 

Alessia held onto Serana so she didn't fall. Once they made it to the entrance Serana leaned against the wall while Alessia started pushing buttons, opening the floor below them. 

"For you guys being thieves and having secret entrances this isn't to quiet." Serana walked down the stairs, almost tripping over her own feet. 

"I could have made you go through the Ratway. It doesn't smell good there and who knows who is hiding out in there with all the skeevers." Alessia opened the door leading down what looked like a sewer drain. Serana followed her, almost falling off the ladder there. 

"Much more pleasant than I thought." 

"I apologize that we don't stay in a castle like some do. Is the temple still bothering you since we are under it?" Serana shook her head no, as they walked towards the center of the room. 

"Nice to see you lass. Bring a new recruit with you?" A man wearing the same armor as Alessia greeted them first.

"You know I don't do the recruiting around here. That's my friend Serana. Serana this is Brynjolf he runs things around here when I'm gone." 

"Alessia mentioned you a few times. Since we've been in Riften." 

"Why don't we go to the Flagon and talk over a drink." Brynjolf led them to a door across the room then through a cabinet with a back door. 

Through there, multiple people sat around tables. All of them stopped talking as Alessia entered the room, some smiling others not. 

"Vekel, three bottles please." The three of them sat at a table, and a man quickly brought them three bottles of mead. 

"Please tell me things have been at least decent here. Better than before?" Alessia looked nervously at Brynjolf as he stared at his hands. 

"Slowly getting better. Some aren't to happy that you chose Sapphire to be the other big help around here." 

"I trust her. Other than you she was the first person I could actually trust in all of Skyrim." Alessia looked over at the group of people, eyes landing on a woman leaning against stacked boxes. 

Serana leaned over to whisper at Alessia. "You're staring." 

"She wanted to be in Sapphire's position, you know help lead and stuff. Little Vex had a fun night of trying to convince me too." Alessia smirked and turned back to Brynjolf, probably acting like he didn't hear what she was saying. 

"We've had some problems with people paying up. Maven is losing her faith in you to lead us also." Serana gave Alessia a confused look which she just shrugged off. 

"Even before I led she didn't have faith in me, nothing new." 

"Who's Maven?" Serana looked between Alessia and Brynjolf. 

"You said she was a friend right?" Alessia only nodded at Brynjolf who had and amused expression. "She's the most influential woman in the Riften. Black-Briar Mead is what her family is known for. Best mead in Skyrim." 

"Tastes better than the stuff in Whiterun." 

"Your friend here is sort of the reason for that. Black-Briar Mead has always been the best but after she caused the Honningbrew Meadery to lose a large amount of business after she poisoned the mead being used for a tasting." Alessia smiled as she drank from her bottle, clearly proud of her work. 

"Brynjolf, don't talk her up like she's some great thief or something. I think we all remember what happened when she broke into Mercer's house." Serana looked over and saw the woman Alessia called Vex walking over to them. 

"According to some here you are the best. Although I do believe you were unable to get into Goldenglow when I did it with ease. Don't forget I did it on my own to." Serana sensed that Alessia wasn't happy with something Vex said. 

"Vex don't you have something to do?" Brynjolf looked over to Vex, hoping she would get that she needed to leave. 

"No I think I'll join." Vex pulled up a chair and sat across from Alessia. "Do you remember what happened when Mercer caught you in his home?" 

"Leave before I do something I might regret." 

"Why don't you tell us what happened there. You were there for a week right? You could even show us what happened." Before Vex could say another word, Alessia grabbed the dagger Serana had as Vex stood from her chair. Alessia then pushed her back against the wall, dagger to her throat. 

"You want to know what it was like? It was hell. I never come back here because this place reminds of what happened. I still have nightmares from what happened. Why don't you stop being an ass and get this Guild back on it's feet, then maybe you can ask me questions." Alessia walked away from Vex and towards Serana. "Come on, we're leaving." 

"Alessia?" Serana tried to reach and grab her by the shoulder but she stepped away. 

Alessia stormed off and walked back through the way they came. Serana continuously tried to stop her but was only ignored. She didn't even stop to see if Serana was able to make it past the temple. 

Luckily she was able to make it past and followed Alessia to the inn they stayed at before. When she walked into the inn Alessia was no longer in sight. Serana concentrated and heard the strong heartbeat of Alessia upstairs. 

When Serana walked into the room, Alessia was sitting in a chair facing the fire, twirling the dagger in her hand. Alessia barely turned her head as Serana closed the door. 

Serana slowly walked over to Alessia, crouching down next to the chair. She took the dagger from her hands and threw it over to one of the beds. 

"Mercer was the Guild Master before me. He seemed like a good guy, other than being a thief of course but that's what we all were." Serana looked up and saw Alessia had tears in her eyes. 

"You don't have to talk about it." Serana laid a hand on her thigh, Alessia placing her hand over Serana's. 

"It's fine. If I didn't do anything Vex would have probably talked about it in detail. I don't know how she even knows really." Alessia paused and wiped the tears from her face. 

"After I found out I was Dragonborn and before I was with Lydia I wasn't in a good place really. I was really upset with myself that I left my siblings. My nightmares use to just be bad things happening to them since I wasn't there. I met Brynjolf and he asked me to join the Guild so I did. As I said earlier Sapphire was one of the only people I trusted so we became close. 

"We would go do heists together. We may have got together once or twice but stopped once things got serious, between us and about the things happening in the Guild. We soon found out Mercer was stealing from the Guild. I was tasked with breaking into Mercer's home to see why he was stealing or what his plans were. My luck of course, he happened to be there." 

"He gave you those scars on your back." Alessia didn't have to go on anymore since Serana understood where it was going. 

"That's not even half of them." Alessia stood up and began taking off her armor. 

Multiple scars were on her stomach and chest, similar to the ones on her back. There were scars running along her arms also, Serana figured her legs were also scarred. 

"Everyday for a whole weak he would come down and ask me about the Guild, things I knew since he was gone and what they were planning. I didn't tell him anything, I didn't want to betray everyone. If I wasn't able to use healing magic I probably would have died from all the cuts." 

"How did you get out?" 

"Someone from the Guild. I don't remember who but they came to the house and found me chained up to a wall. I never cared to ask, I didn't want to remember what happened there." Serana walked over to Alessia, tracing the largest scar over her stomach. 

"Where's Mercer now?" 

"He's been dead for months. Me and Brynjolf became Nightingales. A Dunmer named Karliah knew Mercer, she helped us become Nightingales and helped me get to him. I killed him but I didn't have the pleasure of making it slow and painful, if I did I probably would have drowned." 

"Better that you did it than me." Alessia chuckled and looked down at Serana. 

"Why would you kill him?" 

"Because of what he did to you. I care about you Alessia. Not any mortal would help a vampire, especially one like me. You may have done bad things since being with the Thieves Guild but that doesn't change how I think of you." Serana paused, looking up at Alessia before grabbing her hand. "I've probably done worse things. I'm a Daughter of Coldhaurbor. I'm Harkon's daughter. People like me just bring terrible things along with them." 

"You're not a terrible person to me." Serana was glad she had great hearing or she probably wouldn't have been able to hear Alessia. 

"I'm the reason you and Lydia aren't together anymore. I could tell you loved her by the way you looked at her when we were in Whiterun." 

"Love shouldn't be based on someone forcing another to do something because they think it will protect them. If I actually listened to Lydia sometimes, I would have never met you." Serana was about to speak but Alessia brought a finger to her lips. "Love should be about caring for one another, respecting another's decisions in life and being with them to support. It should also be about helping them when they are in danger, even if they got hurt doing something stupid you didn't want them to do." 

"I never truly felt love towards someone, nor have I ever felt like someone loved me. I have somehow been locked away from the world my whole life until you found me. I never got to meet new people and experience making friends." 

"When I was younger no one really wanted to be my friend. My brother and sister were my friends. Their names were Adren and Aeron. My mother wasn't to creative." Serana laughed as she walked away and sat down on a bed, patting the spot next to her. 

"I think all three of you have great names. When we find them don't tell them I said this but I think you have the best." 

"You're just saying that to please me." 

"I wouldn't lie to you." Alessia glared at Serana who just shrugged. 

"If you wouldn't lie to me then tell me, were you jealous that Lydia was more than just a friend when you first met her." 

Serana looked at her, eyes wide. Alessia simply watched her awaiting for an answer. 

"Maybe, when I found out you two shared a bed." 

"I could tell you've been wanting to flirt, you actually have too. You just never really did because you knew I was with her." Alessia moved closer to Serana, staring into her fiery eyes. "It's harder for you to control yourself too I think. Not just because of my dragon blood." 

"You were right in Solitude. It's harder for vampires to control themselves around attractive people. Sharing a bed with you made it hard for me to control myself." 

"Why control yourself? If I'm so tempting, then why not let the thirst take you over?" 

"I want to be a better person than I was before. Part of me doing that is controlling myself." Serana looked away from Alessia, but was forced to look back at her when a hand was placed under her chin, their face barely inches apart. 

"You're tempting too." 

"What do you mean?" Alessia's eyes glanced down to Serana's lips, stay there for a second before meeting hers again. 

"I think you know what I mean." 

Serana then glanced down at Alessia's lips, licking her own. Alessia slowly inched closer, both were able to feel each other's breath. 

"Are you sure?" Serana didn't get an actual answer as she felt Alessia's lips against her own. 

The contact made it even harder for Serana to control herself. She forced her fangs to stay hidden as Alessia pushed her back so she was on top of her. Serana pulled Alessia closer, forcing more contact between them. She instantly regretted doing so, as she was no longer able to keep her fangs hidden. Alessia was quickly pushed away, but still on top of Serana. 

"What's wrong?" Alessia looked at Serana, worry spreading across her face. 

"I'm sorry, I just can't right now. I need a moment." Serana moved from under Alessia, walking out of the room, leaving Alessia. 

Serana made it to the streets of Riften, standing in front of the inn. She expected Alessia to come outside following her but she never showed. 

She knew it would happen, she knew she would almost lose control if anything happened between them. There would only be one solution to this problem, one Serana wasn't totally sure Alessia would be willing to do even though what she said previously about the subject. 

Alessia would need to be a vampire to be safe around Serana if something like that happened again. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't want to be a spoiler but there are some sort of graphic things going on at the end or rough stuff I guess you could say.

Serana never came back. Alessia waited for what seemed like hours, but she never came back to the inn. She wasn't sure whether or not she should try to look for her. 

After thinking for a few minutes she put on her clothes and walked outside of the inn, sun almost setting. The only people out were shop owners, closing up for the night. Alessia cluelessly walked around Riften, unable to find anything about where Serana was. 

"Where is that stupid vampire?" Alsssia was walking near the keep when a guard stopped in front of her. "Excuse me I was walking here." 

"You were saying something about vampires. There's one in the jail, caught not to long ago. Trying to feed on someone out in the open." The guard walked away as Alessia cursed under her breath and walked towards the jail. 

Luckily the guard at the door was sleeping and she was able to easily get a key to open the door. After looking on the top floor, Alessia moved to the bottom, finding Serana in the back corner cell. 

"Why are you here?" Serana didn't turn to look at Alessia as she approached the cell. 

"Getting you out of here." 

"Just let me stay here and rot for eternity." Serana did look back at Alessia and walked up to the door. "People are safer if I stay in here." 

"I can't save the world on my own you know." Alessia pulled a key from her pocket and unlocked the door, letting Serana out. 

"Why do you have a key to here?" 

"The guard was sleeping so I was able to grab it from the table without him knowing." Serana walked out of the cell, looking to see the guard was in fact sleeping. "Let's get out of here before he wakes up, and anyone else in here tries to." 

"Where are we going to go?" 

"I don't know. We need to figure out what to do with the Scroll. Maybe to the College, they probably know who can read it." Serana nodded as they walked out of the jail. They found no trouble making it out of Riften and to Shor's Stone. 

* * *

"Why do you prefer to walk to most places?" They were about halfway to Windhelm when Serana broke another one of their silent travels. 

"I can be alone with my thoughts. Gives me more time to think about stuff I guess. Carriage drivers can be annoying sometimes, trying to talk to you about pointless things." 

"What are your thoughts then?" Alessia smiled and looked back at Serana. 

"I've been trying to figure out why you walked out. Also why you thought the first thing you would do after that was to try and feed, out in the open during the day." She slowed down, waiting for Serana to catch up with her. 

"I didn't want to hurt you. I could have lost control, I almost did. I wasn't thinking when I left the inn so that explains the almost feeding." They continued walking up the road, Alessia watching a giant rear the road at its camp. She didn't answer and continued walking. "Are you going to say something?"

"I don't have anything to say. I just wanted to know what was going on. Let's just get to Windhelm and rest." 

"You regret it don't you?" Serana shook her head and laughed, not needing Alessia's answer to know she was right. 

"I was emotional and angry of course I do. I don't want to be like I was before. I want to be with someone because I love them, not because I'm angry and emotional for the night and they were the closest person around." 

"I didn't regret a second of it. I only regret leaving you, making you find me locked up again." Serana walked away from Alessia, leaving her to walk to Windhelm on her own. 

Alessia let her leave again, waiting until she was out of sight before continuing. By the time she reached Kynesgrove Serana was probably already at Candlehearth Hall. 

* * *

Serana did make it there but she didn't stay, leaving a note that she quickly wrote with the innkeeper then left. She didn't know where to stay, she didn't want to be close enough to Alessia to hear her heartbeat. 

She quickly heard about an abandoned house in Windhelm, Hjerim. After asking where the home was, many people told her not to go there, she found the home and easily broke in by using her magic. 

The home was not what she expected. She expected an empty home except maybe some cobwebs. It was the exact opposite, once she opened the door all she could smell was blood. Lots of it. 

Deciding it would be better for her to stay outside, she left. 

* * *

Alessia made it to the inn, quickly walking to a fireplace to escape the cold. After she was warmed up she walked to the innkeeper, asking for a room. 

"What's your name?" 

"I'm not here to make friends I just need a room." Alessia threw a small bag of coins onto the counter and walked away. 

"I was asking because someone left a letter here for a woman named Alessia." Alessia stopped and turned back to the innkeeper. 

"A woman in weird armor left it? She has black hair, really pale." The innkeeper nodded, handing the letter to Alessia. 

Going to the room she rented, Alessia locked the door and sat down reading the letter that was hastily written. 

_Alessia,_

_By now you probably know I'm not staying at the inn. You probably don't want to be around me. You might be wondering what it would take for us to be together safely, but it's probably only me. I will tell you that answer if you want to stay with me. I would rather you not come find me, go live your life, find someone you can easily love. You're Dragonborn, you should go handle those dragons instead of fighting vampires._

_Just go be who you're destine to be, save the world from dragons and bring the Guild back to life. Find your brother and sister. Don't waste the limited time you have with me._

_Serana._

Alessia didn't know what to think. She reread the letter multiple times, enough to maybe tell someone else exactly what it says without looking. 

After reading it a couple more times, Alessia decided what she was going to do. She pocketed the letter and walked back into the cold. Walking over to where most of the shops were, not many people were out. Many were setting up shop for the morning, Alessia just realized she had been up all night walking to Windhelm. 

None of the people there were Serana. This was the one time Alessia wished she knew magic. She could have easily used a detect undead spell to find Serana. 

So without magic Alessia had to just walk around Windhelm, hoping Serana was also wondering around the streets. 

As soon as Serana stepped out from the house she could smell and hear her. Her heartbeat was easy to hear, stronger than any mortal. Dragon blood was easy to smell in a crowd, also being stronger than a mortal's. Serana was tempted to walk towards Alessia, but she was unsure if she wanted her around. 

After staying outside Hjerim for a few minutes, she realized that Alessia was coming towards her. The heartbeat getting louder and the smell getting stronger. Before long Alessia was in her sight, turning down the street that led to the large houses. 

Serana wanted to hide, but then again she was hoping Alessia read the letter and chose to come find her. She could go invisible, but Alessia would still be able to find her if she used the Shout she demonstrated on the way to Riften. 

"I heard that it isn't safe for a woman to be hanging out around Windhelm on there own, murderer running around and everything." Before Serana could decide what to do, Alessia was already next to her. 

"Explains the house then. If so why are you out here?" 

"I don't know. You left this at the inn for someone who doesn't want to be around you." Serana grabbed the letter from Alessia's hands, unsure of what to do. 

"So is this goodbye or something?" Serana didn't have the courage to meet Alessia's eyes as she asked her. 

"No. It amuses me that you think that after the few weeks we've known each other, and all we've been through and all we still have to do, that I would leave you." 

"I only thought that because you told me you regretted kissing me. I'm not sure if you feel that way about me or not. If you do there is a way to keep you safe so I don't hurt you." 

"I'm not ready for whatever it is. I don't us to be more than friends right now. I'm sorry if I disappointed you." 

"It'd be a lie if I said I was and that I didn't expect this. So you were saying something about going to the College of Winterhold?" Alessia nodded as her and Serana began walking to the inn. 

"The librarian there, Urag gro-Shub, might help us find someone to read the Scroll." 

"Wait." Serana stopped as they reached the market area, looking around the crowd of people there. "Vampires. Two, from Castle Volkihar. Not turned by my father though."

"How wonderful." Alessia grabbed her bow and began looking around the area, no one was wearing armor like Serana's. 

"You aren't going to see them here, they just entered the city." 

"They will walk over here, since you guys have a great sense of smell and hearing. I can be smelled a mile away right?" Serana nodded, pulling Alessia behind one of the market stalls while watching the opposite pathway. 

"We can't attack them in the city unless they attack us first. I'm sure they are smarter than to attack first." 

"Draw them out of the city?" 

"We need something to sort of distract them because they are still by the doors." 

"What was in that home where I found you?" Serana shot her a quick, confused look. 

"There's vampires in here and you're worried about what's inside a house." 

"Yes because when I mentioned the murderer you said it explained the house. So what's in it?" 

"There was blood." Serana quickly realized what Alessia was pointing at. "So we go open the doors to the home, then what?" 

"I can make a small cut on my hand, let the blood drip to the floor. Then we run out of here. It would distract them enough." 

"You're smarter than you look, let's go." 

Luckily when they got to the home there were no guards around and the door was already unlocked. Once Serana closed the door and they were inside, Alessia walked over to the wall stained with blood. She pulled out her dagger and removed her glove, making a small cut and letting her blood onto the floor. 

"You can go outside and wait for me if it's like to much for you." Alessia looked back at Serana, hand over her nose. 

"Nope I'm fine. It was worse when we first met I'm sure I can handle being calm now." Serana walked over to the cabinets in the far side of the room as Alessia dripped more blood in the next room. "You might want to come look at this." 

"What is it?" Alessia walked over to where Serana was standing. In front of her was an open cabinet that had a door in the back panel. 

"The strong smell of blood wasn't coming from those stains there. It's from in here." Alessia hesitated before opening to back panel. 

Inside the hidden room was a stone table with candles underneath and surrounding it. Scattered around the room were bones, some broken and some with dried blood on them. On top of the table was a skeleton, covered in blood Alessia could even sort of smell. 

Alessia was the first to slowly walk into the room, trying to avoid stepping on all the bones. Serana followed, not caring where she was stepping. A piece of paper caught Serana's eye as she walked towards Alessia. 

_My daughter isn't to be killed, but do whatever you want to her 'friend'. Do whatever it takes to get information from them._

_Lord Harkon_

"I think we have a problem." Serana handed Alessia the note. 

"You mean you know we have a problem?" Alessia set the paper back down on the table before exiting the hidden room. "Let's get out of here before someone shows up." 

"Too late." Alessia turned around and saw a vampire holding Serana with a dagger to her neck. 

"Let her go." Alessia pulled out her sword, but it was quickly knocked out of her hand. A vampire appeared next to her, he was invisible while sneaking up on her  he quickly grabbed her and kicked the sword away.

"Let me go you stupid bloodsucker. You don't know who you're messing with." Alessia tried to free herself from the vampires grasp but was unsuccessful. 

"If you want insult me use my name, Vingalmo. You're a mortal so I do know who I'm messing with. Orthjolf, don't hold the dagger so close to her neck, Lord Harkon said to let her live." 

"I didn't agree to this you know. Why don't you mess up so he sees me as best fitting for the next person to take throne." Orthjolf moved the dagger closer to Serana's neck, allowing a trickle of blood to come from it. 

"Let's just take them upstairs so I don't have to be near you." Vingalmo pushed Alessia towards the stairs, making her climb them and go into a large room. She looked back to see Serana and Orthjolf following. 

Inside the room there were two sets of chains hanging from the ceiling with cuffs on the end. There was a table with multiple daggers and swords. Alessia was suddenly flooded with the memories of when she was trapped in Mercer's home. 

Alessia's weapons were taken from her before she was chained up. Serana had he dagger taken from her and was forced to drink something before she was chained up next to her. 

"One of us will be back. Make yourselves at home in the mean time." Vingalmo smiled when he saw both chained up. Both exited the room and shut the door behind them and locking it. 

"What did they give you?" Alessia looked over at Serana who had been coughing since drinking whatever they gave her. 

"A potion. It makes my magic limited so I can't do anything that would break the chains." 

"You just can't think about it. Think about something that makes you happy." 

"What?" Serana watched as Alessia slightly pulled at the chains but they weren't budging. 

"When Mercer had me locked up the same as we are now, all I did was think about something that made me happy. I never thought about what if I don't make it out of here or what is he going to do to me today." 

"I don't think either of us have something to think about that makes us happy." Serana perked her head up when she heard a door opening in the home. 

"We at least have each other." Serana didn't reply as Orthjolf entered the room again. 

"So, we have two ways to do this. We can do it the hard way or we can do it the easy way. You choose." Orthjolf walked over to the table and grabbed a dagger, then walked over to Alessia. 

"From a previous experience I was a fan of the hard way." 

"Alessia." Looking over at Serana, she did the best she could at shrugging since her arms were held above her. 

"Okay then. So, where's the Elder Scroll?" 

"Serana you don't have the Scroll?" Alessia turned her head to Serana who nodded her head no. 

"Look back over here. Now answer the question." 

"Wait. Before you bring the dagger to me somewhere, would you be kind enough to take my armor off so it doesn't get damaged? I don't have an extra set sitting around somewhere." 

Orthjolf didn't answer, but brought the dagger to Alessia's arm, making a large gash. She barely let out a noise, showing that she was in pain. Alessia looked over at Serana who was unable to watch. 

"You'll probably be in more pain if I do this to her correct? I was told to do whatever I needed to do to her except kill her. Nobody cares what happens to you." Orthjolf moved over to Serana, cutting the front of her armor with the dagger, exposing her stomach. 

"Don't touch her." Orthjolf only laughed, making a gash across her stomach. Serana let out a cry of pain as he did. 

_"FUS RO DAH"_

Orthjolf flew across the room as Alessia let out the loudest Shout she had in awhile. 

"Alessia, you are probably the most, idiotic mortal, I met." Serana struggled between her words as she looked to Alessia. 

"Yeah well, I think most of the time I'm being an idiot is when I'm around you." 

Orthjolf got up faster than Alessia thought he would. Walking over to a table, he dropped the dagger and grabbed a sword. He walked back over to Alessia, tightening his grip on the sword and stabbing it in an area around her hip. She heard Serana yell as she let out a cry of pain, Orthjolf laughing, and then everything in her vision faded. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly this isn't what I planned for this chapter it just happened when I was writing it. Thank you for reading so far, I would enjoy reading your comments about what you think of the story so far and maybe what you guys expect later on.


	9. Chapter 9

Alessia woke up, it was still dark outside. Looking over at the two bed rolls next to her, her brother and sister still sleeping. She got up, hearing a noise in the front of the small home. 

"Where are you going?" Alessia saw her mother putting on her shoes near the door. 

"I'm going to take something to a friend, go back to sleep before you wake your brother and sister." Alessia narrowed her eyes at her, seeing that she had a bow and arrows with her. 

"You have the money to buy a bow and arrows but can't buy us food for dinner. Such a parent you are." Her mother shot her a stern look, Alessia quickly looking down at her feet. 

"Do you want to know the truth? I'm leaving Alessia. I can't stand staying in Bravil anymore, I need to leave. I'm not bringing you or Adren or Aeron with me." Alessia only watched as her mother walked out the door, not caring how loud she closed it. 

"Lessi, what was that?" Alessia looked back and saw Aeron standing behind her. She crouched down and smiled as her sister walk closer to her. 

"It was nothing, go back to sleep." 

"Where's mom? She isn't sleeping." Alessia took a deep breath before trying to figure out what to say. 

"She had to go do something. She'll be back in the morning." Aeron smiled and ran back to the room where they slept. Alessia walked over to where her mom hid mead, grabbing a bottle then walking outside, sitting on the porch. She quickly drank the bottle before going back to sleep. 

* * *

Alessia woke up, sharp pains on her arm and hip caused her to come to her senses slower. She tried moving her arm to her hip but was stopped by the chains, keeping her arms in place. 

"Good you're not dead." Alessia looked over and saw Serana, blood across her stomach. 

"You know, this isn't how I imagined you getting undressed around me." Alessia used her magic to heal as much as she could, but wasn't very successful. 

"What happened to the just being friends thing?" 

"I'm still sticking to that but that doesn't mean I might not attempt to flirt. Appreciate when it happens cause it won't be often."

"Ah, you're still alive. You have a strong Voice you know. Not many could bring me down with a couple of words." Orthjolf walked into the room, looking between Alessia and Serana. 

"You owe me a new set of armor. My two best sets have been ruined, one by you." Orthjolf didn't say anything as he grabbed a key and walked over to Serana, unlocking the cuffs that held her hands. "What are you doing?" 

"I received word to let Serana go, you on the other hand get to stay here." Serana's hands were tied behind her back as she was led to the door. 

"I'm not going to leave her so let me go." 

"Your father knew you would say something along the lines of that. I was told that if you turn her, both of you can leave and go to Castle Volkihar without being harmed anymore." Serana looked back at Alessia who was staring right at her. She didn't know what she was thinking, all she could hear was her heartbeat racing. 

"Serana it's your decision. You know what I said about this." Serana nodded and turned to Orthjolf who was patiently waiting beside her. 

"Could you give us some privacy please? We need to talk about this before I do anything." Orthjolf nodded, closing the door but not moving far from it. "Are you sure about this?"

"No. That's why I asked you to choose. I don't know which choice is the right one." 

"Neither are right. One choice, we have to go to my father. He will probably make us work for him or worse. The other I have to leave you, and who knows what they'll do to you." Alessia didn't say anything to Serana, who continued talking. "Turning you into a vampire doesn't really fall under staying as friends." 

"Why?" 

"Well turning someone is sort of an intimate thing." Serana leaned to whisper into Alessia's ear. "So I'm only going to turn you if you tell me to, I'm not going to choose the rest of your life for you." 

"Do it." Alessia was unable to meet Serana's gaze. "It's better than having your father make one of his people do it." Serana nodded and walked over to the door and kicked it. 

"What, don't know how to turn someone?" Orthjolf looked amused as Serana stared at him. 

"I need my hands free to do it." He nodded and moved behind Serana, cutting her hands free before leaving and closing the door again. "I hope you aren't expecting any advice on how to handle this." 

"I'm just hoping you know what you're doing so you don't actually kill me." Serana laughed as she walked back over to Alessia. 

"I've turned people before. You can trust me." 

"I do, probably more than I should. Let's just get this over with." Alessia smiled, as much as she could for what was about to happen, and looked at Serana. 

Serana pulled up a chair from the room before speaking. "I don't want you to regret this. Tell me honestly that you won't and I'll do it." 

"Serana, I won't regret spending an eternity with you, or however long your father allows me to live." Alessia tried pulling on the chains again after a moment of silence. "Could you get me out of the chains before you do it though? I mean, unless you're into that kind of stuff since you said it was intimate." 

Serana tried to contain her smile as she glared at Alessia. "I'll get you down, I think there was another key over there." Grabbing the key, Serana unlocked the cuffs and let Alessia down. She was about to start healing her wounds but Serana stopped her. "You don't need to heal." 

"Okay. Whenever you're ready, probably don't want to keep whatever his name is waiting though." 

Serana nodded, walking up to Alessia. She took a deep breath before moving the hair away from her neck, then pushing her up against the wall behind her. 

"You know how I said no regrets right?" Serana nodded, looking into Alessia's green eyes. It was the first time she actually realized how green they were, greener than any emerald could be. 

Her thoughts were stopped when Alessia pulled her closer by her cloak. She felt a warm hand cup her chin, causing her to look back up at Alessia. She was pulled even closer, Alessia's lips quickly found her's. 

The kiss wasn't the same as the one in Riften, even though Serana could not explain why. To her it felt different, softer maybe, and more caring. 

Alessia slowly pulled away before speaking. "No regrets." 

"Friends?" Serana smiled as Alessia did the same. 

"Friends." 

"You really know how to disappoint a girl." 

"I try. I'm ready, no more talking just do it." 

Serana did the best she could to not hesitate any longer. It had been so long since she's turned someone. Feeling her fangs starting to show, she moved Alessia's head to show more of her neck, keeping her hand behind her neck. 

Her other hand found its way to Alessia's stomach, laying flatly against the buckles of her armor. She felt hands on her hips, feeling Alessia relax against the wall. Serana did the best she could to not make it painful, but she knew as soon as she bite Alessia that it might be the most painful things she experienced. 

As soon as Alessia felt sharp pains in her neck, she felt an even worse pain around her body, especially in her heart. She let out a small cry of pain, wondering how any of this could be intimate for anyone. 

Alessia's grip tightened on Serana's hips, she felt Serana slightly moan against her neck. Her only thought was that of course it was fun for the vampire. 

The pain suddenly stopped, Alessia felt groggy, everything around her fuzzy again for the second time. She felt something soft against her lips, Serana must have been kissing her. She then had a metallic taste on her lips. Before she could focus on anything in the room her knees gave out, luckily Serana was able to catch her. 

Serana picked up Alessia then sat her against the wall by the table, grabbing her bow and arrows. She walked out of the room to Orthjolf leaning against the door frame, smiling when he saw the both of them. 

"Would you like me to take her?" Serana gave him a dirty look before walking down the stairs. 

"I can handle her. I do hope you don't expect me to carry her all the way to the castle though." Once downstairs Serana set Alessia down again, grabbing her sword and sheathing it on her hip. 

"There is a carriage outside for the both of you. I already enthralled the driver so he won't be asking questions." Serana picked Alessia back up and walked out the door, not caring to speak to Orthjolf anymore. 

Once outside she went invisible, hopefully there would be no distractions that would cause either her or Alessia to appear to anyone. Serana let out a sigh of relief when she made it to the city doors, she was beginning to get a headache after having two people go invisible through just her power. 

Making it across the bridge she found the carriage Orthjolf got for them. The driver waved as if he knew her when she became visible to him. Serana quickly got onto the carriage, taking all the weapons from her body and setting them on the seat across from her. She laid Alessia down on the same side as her, resting her head on her lap. 

"Let's hope I did this right." 

* * *

After five days of traveling across Skyrim, Serana and Alessia made it to Castle Volkihar. Alessia still hadn't woken up from being turned, it usually took mortals a day or two, but never a week. Serana figured it was her dragon blood, since it was definitely stronger than any other blood. 

Serana spent most of her times in her room, next to the bed where Alessia laid. Only a few times had she been called to see her father, most of those times had been about the Elder Scroll that she no longer had. She could only think of one place to hide it, only Alessia would be able to get to it. 

Serana was currently sitting at one of the large tables in the dining hall, listening to her father ramble on about the Elder Scroll to everyone in the room. Before her father was finished one of the lower ranking vampires in the castle hesitantly approached Serana. 

"Can I help you Ronthil?" 

"I think your friend is awake, or is waking up." Serana quickly got up from the table, causing many in the hall to look at her as she rushed up the stairs to her room. 

Before she even entered the room she heard Alessia mumbling, but was still unable to hear her. Serana quickly entered the room and ran to where Alessia was sitting on the edge of the bed. 

"Hey are you okay?" Alessia put her head in her hands for a moment before meeting Serana's eyes. The green in her eyes were gone, replaced by the same fiery orange as Serana's. 

"Stop screaming." Serana could only laugh as she sat next to Alessia. 

"I'm not screaming. You probably think I am because you were turned a week ago and haven't had any blood." 

"I've been sleeping for a week?" 

"Sure." Serana got up and grabbed a bottle from the desk in the corner of her room and threw it to Alessia. 

"I think I can handle the screaming for a bit." Alessia scrunched her nose when she looked at the color of the contents in the bottle. 

"Drink it. Sadly I had to get it from one of the people my father keep in the dungeon." 

"Does it taste, uh I don't know, decent?" Alessia opened the bottle, smelling the blood. She continued to stare at the bottle, not realizing Serana was sitting behind her. 

"It depends, its better when the person is healthy of course. I wouldn't say the mortals here are considered healthy. Everything will just get worse than it is now if you don't drink it." 

"Okay." Alessia stared at the bottle for a second longer, then quickly drank all of the contents. 

"Better?" Serana rested her chin on Alessia's shoulder as she set the bottle on the bed. 

"Yeah but how do I get these to go away?" Alessia smiled and pointed to her fangs that were clearly visible. 

"Give it a few days and it will come naturally to you I guess. At least that's how it worked for me." Serana paused for a moment then continued, "some things are different for you because you don't have pure blood like me. You can still turn into the blue monster thing like I can. It might be harder for you to control yourself around blood but after watching you with that bottle I think you'll be just fine." 

"I don't intend on turning into that. I'm guessing you don't like doing so." 

"No I don't. My father wanted to speak to you once you woke up." Alessia nodded and got up, walking to the door. "Do you know where you're going?" 

"No, aren't you coming with?" 

"I am but you seemed to know where you were going since you went to the door so fast." Serana went to the door and opened it for Alessia and pointed in the direction to go. 

Serana led her to a room that had a throne and a chair in front of a fire. In the corner their was a large cage that made Alessia nervous. Harkon was sitting in the throne, looking up when Serana knocked on the door frame. 

"I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up. Never seen someone out for a whole week." Harkon motioned to the chair next to him. Alessia slowly walked over and sat down, looking over at Serana as she stood in the door frame. 

"I'll let you two talk then." Alessia was about to argue for Serana to stay as she walked away but decided not to, she'd rather not anger Harkon again. 

"I would like to thank you for keeping my daughter safe." Alessia only nodded, figuring more was coming. "I'm going to guess she is keeping my Elder Scroll somewhere safe." 

"She didn't tell me where she is keeping it. The last I saw it with her was when we were in Riften." Harkon stroked his beard, then turning his gaze to Alessia. 

"I need you to find that Scroll for me. Serana hid it for a reason, so it would be best if you don't tell her what you are doing. Take her with you though, it might be easier to find it." 

"Would you like us to leave now?" Harkon nodded and motioned to the door for Alessia to leave. Unsure of what to do Alessia nodded and smiled, leaving the room and going back to Serana's. 

"That was fast. What did he want?" Serana was sitting at her desk reading a book when Alessia entered. 

"Not much. I have to stop at my home in Whiterun to buy some armor and then I also have to go to Riften." 

"He's letting you leave for your own needs?" Serana seemed amused as Alessia nodded, rocking back and forth on the heels of her feet. 

"Yeah but he just asked we come back as soon as possible." 

"We?" 

"You think I'm going anywhere without you now?" 

"I guess not. I'm shocked someone is letting me out of the castle for once." 

"We should go then before anyone stops you." Alessia walked to the door but stopped as Serana grabbed her by the wrist and shutting the door.

"I meant to ask you before my father spoke to you, but are you still sticking with the 'just friends' thing?" 

"Remember I said no regrets?" Serana blankly looked at her. "I don't think friends do this." 

Alessia leaned down kissing Serana, moving them over to her bed. Alessia laid down on the bed, pulling Serana on top of her. Alessia's hand was tangled in Serana's hair, the other cupping her cheek. 

Serana sat up after a few minutes, still straddling Alessia. Her hands quickly found their way to the buckles on her armor, undoing them as fast as she could. Once they were undone, Serana leaned back down, kissing Alessia passionately. 

Alessia's quickly found the laces to Serana's armor, untying them in one simple motion. Both of them quickly discarded their clothes to the floor. Serana began trailing kisses down Alessia's neck then back up to her jaw. 

"Oh! Serana I apologize I thought both of you may have left already." Serana quickly sat up and moved from on top of Alessia. 

"Ronthil you still could have knocked. Don't speak a word of this to anyone, especially my father." Ronthil nodded and quickly walked away from the room. 

"Maybe we can continue in Whiterun?" Alessia got up from the bed and began putting on her armor, smirking at Serana the whole time. 

"As long as Lydia doesn't decide to walk in on us." Serana took a sharp breath before looking up at Alessia, forgetting she now had the same hearing as she did. "Sorry." 

"It's fine. Let's go." Alessia kept her head down until they made it past the dining hall. Looking back, she saw Ronthil watching her and then glaring at Serana once she walked past. 

Alessia walked to the door, holding it open for Serana then walking out into the darkness. They made their way down the bridge, onto the boat and towards Skyrim. Alessia's thoughts wondered to what she would say when they got to the Elder Scroll. 

The only thought she had of Serana's reaction was not good. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow we got to 300 reads. Thanks to everyone for reading! 
> 
> If you guys think that this is moving sort of fast, the relationship, don't worry I have a plan/reason for it.


	10. Chapter 10

They reached Dragon Bridge by sunrise. Alessia began to feel the sun before it was visible to her. They stayed there for the day and began traveling again at night. They reached Whiterun by afternoon. 

"I need to stop and see Adrianne about some armor. You can go to my home if you want." Alessia stopped once they reached the first building in Whiterun, handing Serana a key before walking inside.

Serana walked over to the familiar home, unlocking the door and setting her stuff down in of the chairs. She was about to start looking through Alessia's book shelf when she heard a noise upstairs. Grabbing a sword from the nearby rack, she walked up the stairs. 

She opened the door to the room that she stayed in, it was left the same as she left it. Turning her attention to Alessia's room, she opened the door, shocked to see someone inside. 

"Care to explain why you're here?" Serana lowered her sword when she saw Lydia sitting on the bed. 

"I think I should be asking you the same question. The Dawnguard didn't kill you when you showed up there?" Lydia didn't move, only crossing her arms. 

"They tried but Alessia was kind enough to offer me some of her blood when they injured me." 

"Where is Alessia?" 

"Getting some armor. She said both of her good sets had been ruined." Serana sat down in one of the chairs that was in the corner of the room. "You never explained why you are here. Alessia told me about the letter she got, saying you were no longer her Housecarl." 

"I figured that since she was running around with a vampire she would be dead by now and no longer needing the house." 

Serana chuckled looking up at Lydia. "I guess you could say she's sort of dead, but she will still be using the home." 

"Serana?" Serana smiled when she heard Alessia's voice as she walked into the home. 

"There she is. You should come say hi." Serana walked down the stairs and saw Alessia, still in her Guild armor. "Weren't you buying new armor?" 

"I was but the only armor Adrianne only had heavy armor and I prefer light. She did have thread so I could fix my Nightingale armor." Alessia was about to continue speaking but she quickly shut her mouth once she saw Lydia on the stairs. "Aren't you suppose to be running around with the werewolves?" 

"I was this morning. I might have to go get them since you brought the vampire back." 

"Oh I didn't just bring one, there's two now." Alessia pulled down her hood, showing her fiery orange eyes. She then smiled, showing her fangs as Lydia's face drained of color. 

"What's next, you two sleeping together?" Serana let out a nervous laugh as Alessia stared at her feet. "Gross, I shouldn't of asked that. If either of you do anything to the people in this city I will get the Companions down here to take care of you."

"I don't remember sleeping with me being gross Lydia. At least that's not what it sounded like the night before I left to go to the Dawnguard." Alessia smirked as Lydia glared at her, walking out of the home and slamming the door shut. 

"Ouch." Alessia glared at Serana after she hit her shoulder. "What was that for?" 

"Control yourself." Alessia grunted and walked upstairs to her room. 

Grabbing her armor, Alessia sat on the bed and began fixing the large rip in her armor. It took her multiple tries to get it sewed together. After finishing, she grabbed two silver rings from the dresser in her room. 

Walking downstairs, Serana was distracted by a book to notice her walk by. Alessia walked into the back room and set the rings down on her enchantment table. She enchanted the rings as quickly as one with her magical skill could, then walked to where Serana was. 

"Here." Alessia handed her one of the rings, Serana looked at it and saw it was glowing an orangish red color. 

"Proposing already?" Serana took the ring and placed it on her finger, studying it. 

"You wish. It's enchanted with a fire resistance. I figured it'd be useful since there are dragons flying around everywhere." 

"You got one too?" Serana pointed to one of two rings on Alessia's right hand. 

"Well I mean you did turn me into a vampire, which by the way, when you were doing your thing it was not enjoyable." 

"It was for me." Alessia glared at her with narrow eyes. Serana stared back with a smirk on her face. 

"You got a weird meaning of intimate." 

"Do you know how I was exactly turned?"

"No you never told me. You only said that you were blessed by Molag Bal. Also that it wasn't a fun experience." Alessia sat down in the chair next to Serana. 

"I'll give you the short version. Very degrading ritual. Those who survive that ritual are blessed to be Daughters of Coldharbour, like me and my mother. My father was turned during that ritual but it was sort of different from what I remember. I have tried forever to forget what happened so I don't really remember it all." 

"For a short version that is a little rough. I'm sorry you had to go through that." Alessia reached over and placed her hand on top of Serana's, who gave her a small smile. 

"Let's get some sleep if you want to go to Riften." Both walked upstairs, Serana was about to head into the extra room when Alessia pulled her into her room. 

"We aren't going to sleep right away. We have something to continue." Serana didn't wait until they got to the bedroom before kissing Alessia. 

They quickly undressed as they entered the bedroom, throwing their clothes in random places around the room. Alessia moved them to the bed, Serana below her. Alessia broke the kiss, her eyes meeting Serana's. 

"No matter what happens in the future, just trust me and know that I only do things to protect you." Serana only nodded, quickly switching their positions and kissing Alessia. 

* * *

Serana woke up, a warm breath hitting her cold neck. Moving onto her back, she saw Alessia fast asleep. 

"Stop staring." Serana chuckled, Alessia's voice still raspy from sleep. 

"You're cute when you sleep, like a little kid." Alessia attempted to say something, all coming out as gibberish Serana couldn't understand. She decided not to question about what she said and got up to put her clothes back on. 

Grabbing two bottles from her pack, she threw one to Alessia and drank the other. Alessia slowly got up to open the bottle and drink it, cringing from the taste.

"We should get ready to go." Getting up from the bed she looked over at Serana and stopped walking. "Oh, I'll get ready to go then I guess."

"Why do you need to go to Riften?" Alessia hesitated before answering the question, she hasn't thought about what the excuse would be. 

"I'm going to tell Brynjolf that he has full leadership of the Guild. I thought it would be better to do it in person." 

"Not handing it to one of your two lady friends?" 

"No. I'm trying to be a little bit smart about some decisions I make." Alessia put on the armor she fixed last night, but left her mask off. 

Walking downstairs, Alessia grabbed her usual weapons. Serana was waiting by the door by the time she was ready. They both walked out of the city, Alessia was glad nobody she knew was out since it was nighttime. 

* * *

"The sun will be coming up soon. Do you wanna find somewhere to stop?" Serana slowed her pace down next to Alessia. 

"Ivarstead isn't that much further I think. We could stay there for the day." Alessia pointed off into the distance to where Ivarstead was. 

"Have you ever been there?" Alessia shook her head no as they went to the path that led to Ivarstead. 

"The steps to High Hrothgar start there. It's been about a year since I was summoned by the Greybeards to go there." 

"You never went to see what they wanted?" 

"I sort of guessed about what they wanted when I was told who they were. They all sit up there in silence, never leaving." 

"It sounds fun and peaceful." There was a tone of sarcasm in her voice, Alessia chose to ignore it. 

"Yeah well I didn't come to Skyrim for fun and peaceful." At this point in her life Alessia didn't know what she came to Skyrim for. At first she came for family life, then it changed to getting enough money to help her brother and sister. "I don't know what I came for anymore." 

"Even though you hurt people for coming here, I'm glad you did." Alessia didn't answer as they crossed a bridge to the small town of Ivarstead. She put her hood up as soon as she saw people walking around the road.

"Dragonborn! Are you finally answering the summons of the Greybeards?" Alessia kept her head low as a woman approached once they stepped away from the bridge. 

"No I'm just here for the day. Also I don't plan on answering those summons anytime soon." Serana gave the woman an apologetic smile before she followed Alessia into the inn. 

"You've been in a wonderful mood." Serana found Alessia sitting at a table inside the inn. 

"Where's the Scroll?" Alessia kept her voice low so only Serana could hear. 

"My father wants you to get it and bring it to him." 

"He does, but I'm not doing that. Remember what I said, just to trust me." 

"Then why do you need to know where it is?" 

"Because we can finish what we were going to do before your father's friends found us. We can go to Winterhold and find someone to read it." Alessia rested her head on the table as she heard Serana let out an angered sigh. 

"It's somewhere only you can get it." She picked her head up off the table once Serana began talking, curious of how it can be in a place where only she could get it. "One of the keys you have, it's to the vault in the Guild." 

"I'm not the only one to a key to there. Three other people have one." 

"I saw a carriage at the other end of town. We should go now then?" Alessia nodded and left the inn with Serana at her side. They paid the driver, telling him to get to Riften as quickly as possible. 

"I thought I was the only one that makes bad decisions." 

"Why do other people have a key if you lead the Guild?" 

"Vex and Delvin have one because they handle jobs. They have it so they can put stolen valuables in there. Brynjolf has one because he helps lead. I have one for obvious reasons." 

Neither spoke the rest of the way to Riften. Alessia quickly fell asleep while Serana was unable to do so. 

She knew she could trust Alessia, she had to quickly. But she wasn't sure if she could trust her father. She wouldn't be surprised if he had people following them again so he did get the Scroll. 

They reached Riften a couple hours later. Alessia quickly made it to the entrance of the Thieves Guild, waiting for Serana who slowly walked to her. 

"Why doesn't it bother me as much as you? I mean I still sort of feel it but not really." 

"Since I turned you, you don't have as much, I guess Daedric influence I guess you could say. I don't know how to explain it." Alessia only nodded before opening the hatch door and went down the ladder with Serana following. 

Once she reached the vault door she pulled out her key and unlocked it. Serana walked over to a corner and reached behind some chests to pull out a wooden box. Opening, she stared inside for a few minutes before turning the empty box to Alessia. 

"Where is it?" Alessia began walking around the room, opening every container but finding nothing. She quickly walked out of the vault and into the center of the Cistern. 

"Who took it?" Serana closed her eyes once she heard Alessia's loud voice echoe across the room. Nobody answered Alessia, all of the people in the room staring at her. "Who took the Scroll?" 

"Why would the Guild have an Elder Scroll?" Serana walked out of the vault and saw a Dunmer woman approach her. 

"The Guild doesn't have one. My friend had one and she decided to take my key and hide it in the vault but now it's not here." The woman continued to walk up to Alessia as she continued to look around at the people in the room. 

"We can find it, I'll go get everyone in here." The woman walked away as Serana walked up to Alessia. 

"We'll find it. I don't know what else to say other than that." Serana grabbed Alessia's hand and rested her chin on her shoulder. "Do you have any idea who would take it?" 

"No." The woman quickly arrived with a group of people and walked to where everyone else was. 

"This is everyone that's here." 

"Thank you Karliah. So, would anyone like to tell me where the Elder Scroll went?" Alessia paid attention to the sound of everyone's heartbeat, waiting for one to race or stutter. She smiled once she heard one that was beating a little bit faster than the others. 

"Nobody here has it Alessia. Maybe it was someone who went out earlier." 

"No someone had it and is hiding it. You heard it too?" Alessia looked at Serana and nodded in response. They both walked to where the heartbeat was coming from. 

They walked up to where Sapphire and Vex were standing. Vex quickly crossed her arms and began to argue. 

"I didn't take the Scroll, I don't even know what one looks like. If I did know we had one in here and that it was yours I wouldn't touch it knowing you would probably kill me after what happened last time you came." Alessia rolled her eyes and looked over at Sapphire. 

"Why is your heart racing so fast?" 

"It's not?" 

"Yes it is and don't tell me it's not." Alessia pulled down her hood and looked into Sapphire's eyes. "I can easily hear all the heartbeats in this room." 

"You-you're a vampire." 

"I am. So where is the Scroll? Don't try lying because I will know if you are and so will Serana." 

"Yesterday a vampire came here. He said he knew you and that you sent him here to retrieve it." She pointed at Serana before she continued. "He didn't say his name. He wore something similar to you but different colors. He's an Altmer. That's all I know." 

"You don't have a key to the vault though." 

"Vex does, and she's a pretty heavy sleeper." Vex hit Sapphire on the arm before she walked away. 

"If I was leading this place I would probably ask you to leave. Since Brynjolf will be leading this place now I will leave it up to him." 

"What are you saying?" 

"I'm leaving the Guild. I have more important things to do. I'm going to tell Brynjolf that I'm done now." Alessia walked away from both and walked to the Flagon. She found Brynjolf talking to someone she hasn't seen before. 

"What a surprise. Alessia this is the new recruit, why don't you show him around." 

"Can I speak with you for a moment?" Brynjolf nodded and followed Alessia off to the side. "I'm done with the Guild. You have full leadership now. I have bigger issues with vampires, and since I am one I'd rather not run this place for an eternity." 

"Well, I'll miss you lass. You're still welcome here, to visit. Thank you for choosing me." Alessia only nodded and walked back to the Cistern. 

"Back to Castle Volkihar then?" Serana met Alessia by the ladder at the exit. 

"Back to Castle Volkihar."


	11. Chapter 11

Serana and Alessia were met by multiple people from the Dawnguard once they arrived to Castle Volkihar. Neither got a scratch as they took them down with either Alessia's arrows or Serana's ice spikes. 

They were greeted by the guard as they entered and walked to Harkon's room. As they neared the room they heard him speaking with someone that Serana recognized as Vingalmo from when they met in Windhelm. 

"You're back, but not with the Scroll." Harkon and Vingalmo turned to look at them as they entered. 

"There was no Scroll to get since he decided he was to get it." Serana looked over to Vingalmo, smiling and leaning against the wall. 

"Serana, if I told you that I was sending her to go get the Scroll and that you could go with, would you really bring it back to me?" 

"No I wouldn't. Not after you sent two people to torture us and force me to turn Alessia." Serana raised her voice, not caring that everyone in the castle could probably hear them. 

"I didn't force you to turn her. I gave you the choice between turning her and letting Orthjolf do whatever he wanted with her." 

"And if I left her with Orthjolf she might have still been turned or he could have killed her. He almost did." Alessia was about to say something but Serana shot her a look that made her stay quiet. "I wasn't going to let her die. I'm not going to lose someone that actually cares about me." 

"What's the difference if Orthjolf turned her? She would still be here Serana." 

"She wanted me to turn her if she ever had to or wanted to. You also know the bond it creates between when one turns another." 

"You would never get the bond me and your mother share with her though. Vingalmo please make sure they both get to Serana's room, make sure they are only leaving the room to feed also." Serana stormed out of the room, leaving Alessia in an awkward silence with Vingalmo as she slowly walked to her room. 

She found Serana pacing around the room. She only stopped when she heard the door close and Alessia entered. 

"You know you never talk about your mother." 

"There isn't much to say, she locked me away and said it was for my protection. Got along with her better than I did my father." 

"She did it because of the prophecy?" 

"There's part of the prophecy I didn't tell you." Serana motioned for her to sit on the bed then began to pace the room again. "For him to do the thing with the sun he needs blood, from a Daughter of Coldharbour." 

"You're blood. Why wouldn't you tell me?" 

"I didn't think it would be this easy for him to get the Scroll." 

"We have to get the Scroll and leave. Go to Winterhold and see if anyone knows who can read it." 

"Moth Priests." Alessia put her head in her hands and groaned. 

"You've known about who can read Scrolls too?" 

"My father was talking about it before you woke up." 

"We can't go to Cyrodiil just to see one of them. Maybe someone knows where to find one." 

"Once we figure out how to get the Scroll we can go around to inns and carriage drivers to see if they've seen one." Alessia nodded and began putting stuff in Serana's room into her bag. 

"How will we get the Scroll then?" 

"When my father leaves his room we can go feed but not actual go feed unless you need to. Make sure he sees us go into the room and then go invisible, come back out and go to his room to get the Scroll." Alessia gave Serana a blank stare from across the room. "What?"

"Yeah that won't work." Serana suddenly went invisible, Alessia stared at the spot she last saw her. 

"I think it will." Alessia quickly turned when she heard Serana behind her. 

"Since you know how to go all invisible and stuff why don't you do it. You never really gave me a being a vampire lesson." 

"It's not hard."

Alessia scoffed at Serana before speaking. "You've been a vampire for thousands of years, even though most of those you spent in Dimhollow. I've been one for not even two weeks." 

"I should really find someone my own age, young people these days." 

"I'm sure you could find someone right outside that door, but you are stuck here with me so I guess I'll have to do for awhile." 

"I'll go get the Scroll and while I'm at it maybe I'll find someone." Alessia rolled her eyes and pulled Serana into a tight hug.

"Be careful please. I don't want to lose someone I care about." Serana pulled away and kissed Alessia before walking out the door. 

Serana quickly made her way to where her father kept the cattle, glad to see no one else was in there. She stood in the room for a few minutes before leaving and making her way to where her father's room was. 

She looked around and saw nobody watching her so she quickly went out of sight. Upon entered Serana spotted the Scroll on the same table it was on earlier. She grabbed it and walked back to her room as fast as she could without being detected, closing and locking the door behind her.

"You got it?" Serana held up the Scroll, giving it to Alessia to put in her bag.

"Our only problem is figuring out how to get out of here." Alessia watched as Serana walked over to her alchemy table where she had multiple ingredients scattered around the table. "I have the stuff to make an invisibility potion for you." 

"I have some in my bag. So we just walk out of here hoping no one can see us?" 

"I can't think of anything else. Just be as quiet as possible and they won't know we are leaving." Serana looked over to where Alessia was then around the room, but couldn't see her. "Where did you go?" 

"It worked? I guess you're right it's not hard." Alessia appeared next to her after a few seconds, looking proud of herself. 

"I guess you won't need those potions then. You better be able to do that until we get to the boat outside." 

"Let's hope I can." Serana gave her a reassuring smile before they both disappeared from sight. 

Serana found Alessia's hand, grabbing it and leading them down the stairs into the dining hall. They hesitated when they saw Harkon sitting by the table with Vingalmo and Orthjolf to his sides. Alessia felt a pull at her hand and continued walking towards the door. 

As soon as they stepped outside the door, Serana quickly took out the guard while Alessia sat down against the wall. "Let's never do that again. Is it normal to feel hungover after that?" 

"For your first time, probably. I honestly didn't think you'd make it out the door." Serana helped Alessia to her feet, putting an arm around her as support while they walked to the boat.

"Do you have anymore bottled blood with you?" Alessia laid down on the boat, blocking the sun from her eyes. 

"In your bag." Serana watched as Alessia quickly drank the bottle before she continued. "How long will it take to get to Winterhold?" 

"Depends on if we stop or not. It would be better not to stop anywhere in case your father does send someone after us." 

"Knowing him he will and it won't just be to take us back to him." Alessia sat up, still blocking the sun with her hand. 

"There better be a Moth Priest or someone that can read a Scroll at that stupid college." 

* * *

Getting to the College of Winterhold would have been an easy trip, except there was a blizzard. Serana walked down the path as if it wasn't even snowing. Alessia on the other hand struggled through the snow, she never was a fan of the cold. 

The bridge to the College was covered in sheets of ice, which made it even more dangerous. Alessia was glad they made it past the gates, she hoped the only time they would go on that bridge again was when they leave. 

Serana seemed that she could care less about slipping to her death as she talked to a woman about magic and the College.

"The Arcaneum is upstairs in that building." Alessia pointed to the large building in front of them, past the statue. 

They walked inside the building without being questioned by anyone, nobody probably cared that the Dragonborn was at the College. Upstairs, they found the large library, Serana paused for a moment, looking at the number of books she could read in the large amount of bookshelves. 

"I've never seen so many books." Serana was about to open one of the bookshelves, but stopped when she heard a voice from across the room. 

"Don't touch any of those books. I didn't know the College was letting random people into my library." At a desk she saw an Orc man glaring at her. She remembered Alessia mentioning the man's name before but couldn't actually remember what it was. 

"They didn't let random people in. Don't recognize me?" The man's eyes narrowed as Alessia walked up towards the desk. 

"You.... where are my books you took from me?" 

"Not in my possession. The Guild has them probably, and I'm no longer part of the Guild." Serana peeked over the desk and saw magic flowing around the palms of his hands as he continued to glare at both of them. "I'm not here to take anymore of your books, lucky for you." 

"Then why set foot into here?" 

"I need to know if there are any Moth Priest in Skyrim." Alessia leaning a bit over the desk and whispered to the man. "You see us vampires sort of have a problem. We have an Elder Scroll that needs read and that's all you need to know." 

"There's a Moth Priest here, just left the College. He said he was heading to Solitude." Alessia gave him an innocent smile before walking out of The Arcaneum and then outside.  

"I understand why you said he might help us now." They slowly walked back down the bridge towards Winterhold, Alessia was waiting for Serana to say more about what she did. 

"The books were worth money, I saw the chance and took it. Let's go in the inn for a bit I can't stand the cold right now." Alessia quickly walked to the inn and brought two chairs up to the fire. 

"You're a vampire I don't get how you are cold." Serana kept her voice down, not bringing attention to them. 

"I'm not terribly cold just a bit. Before this I would be totally freezing, I was never one to stay in the cold. I hated my first winter here." 

"We should go to Solitude as soon as possible. I saw a carriage, we can get there faster that way." Alessia nodded, glad she was finally warm but upset that they had to go back out into the cold. 

They found the carriage outside, both glad that it was easy to convince the driver to not stop on the way to Solitude. Serana kept them warm by occasionally starting flames in her hands. Alessia was glad that their driver was quiet, allowing her to rest for a bit. 

* * *

Shortly before arriving to Dragon Bridge Serana felt uneasy, making the driver stop on the road. She woke up Alessia and motioned for her to follow. Walking down the road, they found a crashed carriage, bodies laying around it and smoke rising into the sky. 

"Legion guards. This had to be the Moth Priest carriage." Alessia closed the eyes of two of the guards then walked over to Serana. 

"Vampires did this." 

"How do you know that?" Alessia looked over Serana's shoulder and saw a woman laying on the road, wearing vampire armor. "Oh, your father?"

"I'm not sure, maybe." Serana found a piece of paper in a pocket. "They took him to Forebears' Holdout." 

"That's right by here, down that way I think." 

"We better go before they do anything worse." Alessia led Serana to a cave hidden in the mountains. 

"There's a guard outside the cave. I can take him out quietly with my bow, not as loud as your ice spikes." Serana nodded as Alessia grabbed her bow and readied an arrow, releasing it when she had a focus on her target. "Ready?" 

Serana only nodded in reply and began walking to the cave with Alessia. Serana went in first, the entrance was to narrow for both to go through. They walked a bit more into the cave, finding a crumbling fort inside. 

"What's that?" Alessia pointed to a faint blue light coming from atop the fort. 

"Some type of magic. I think it's to hold someone, like a cage sort of." 

"There's two guards outside the entrance, and two things moving over by that bridge." Serana chuckled and saw that there were in fact two guards and two bloodhounds down by the bridge. 

"I'll get the bloodhounds over by the bridge and you get the guards with your bow. Meet by the bridge." 

Alessia's first arrow was gone by the time Serana made it to the bloodhounds. Her second was gone even faster. The last bloodhound fell to her arrow, Serana looking back to see her smirking behind her. 

"Show off." Alessia said nothing as she put her bow around her back and walked across the bridge. 

Inside the fort there were two people on the first level, a thrall and vampire. Both were easy to handle. Alessia snuck up to the second level of the fort and easily put arrows through two more people. 

"Do you know how to get it open?" Alessia watched as Serana walked by the bodies laying around them, searching each one. 

"With this, we just have to find where to put it." Serana handed her an egg shaped thing she found from one of the vampires. 

"Maybe up there?" Alessia pointed up the stairs behind them. "I'll go check." Serana watched as Alessia walked up the stairs and saw something with the same pattern. She placed the object into space where it fit, and watched as the magical walls disappeared. 

"I'm going to guess that was it. Alessia..." Alessia watched as the man inside the blue walls quickly pulled out his sword and walked towards Serana. Not knowing what else to do, she quickly readied an arrow and aimed at his leg, the arrow striking his thigh, causing him to fall over. 

"Are you okay?" Serana nodded and walked over to the man that was now holding his leg. 

"Yeah but I don't think he is. You really had to do that?" 

"He was coming at you with a sword." Alessia crouched down next to his leg and quickly pulled out the arrow from his leg, causing him yell in pain. 

"I'm sorry.... I don't know what was happening I couldn't think. I'm Dexion Evicus, a Moth Priest." Serana helped him stand up before crossing her arms. 

"Okay Dexion, can you read Elder Scrolls?" Dexion looked at Serana with excitement.

"Yes I can. Do you have one with you?" 

"We have one with us." Serana pulled the Scroll out of the Alessia's bag then handed it to him. He grabbed it, carefully examining the outside of it before looking up to Alessia and Serana. 

"If you could please be quiet so I can concentrate please." Clearing his throat, he carefully opened the Scroll and began reading. 

"I see a vision before me, an image of a great bow. I know this weapon! It is Auriel's Bow! Now a voice whispers, saying "Among the night's children, a dread lord will rise". In an age of strife, when dragons return to the realm of men, darkness will mingle with light and the night and day will be as one.

"The voice fades and the words begin to shimmer and distort. But wait, there is more here. The secret of the bow's power is written elsewhere. I think there is more to the prophecy, recorded in other scrolls. Yes, I see them now... One contains the ancient secrets of the dragons, and the other speaks of the potency of ancient blood.

"My vision darkens, and I see no more. To know the complete prophecy, we must have the other two scrolls." Dexion closed the Scroll, handing it back to Serana. 

"There's one more Scroll. My mother has one so we have to find her and the Scroll." Alessia was unsure how Serana felt by the way she mentioned her mother. 

"You don't even know where she is." 

"If she was on Nirn my father would have already found her but he hasn't. She told me she would be in a place he would never think to look." Serana began pacing in front of Alessia but stopped when she heard someone clear their throat. 

"I apologize for interrupted but I must go. Is there a place I can stay while you find the other Scrolls?" Serana looked at Dexion then to Alessia. 

"You can stay with the Dawnguard, down near Riften. Tell them Alessia sent you to stay there so you remain safe." 

"Thank you. I look forward to reading the other Scrolls." Dexion walked away from them, leaving them in silence. 

"There was a place in the castle my father could never go, the courtyard. Maybe my mother left some more clues there as to where she is." Alessia then realized she looked upset, maybe sad. 

"Do you need some time before we go searching for her? If someone told me they knew where my mother was I would need months before I would even think about going to find her." 

"We need to go. The docks on the side of the castle will let us go to the courtyard without being seen by anyone." They began walking out of the cave, Serana stopped before they exited and turned to Alessia. "Besides, I think it's time I ask my mother why she decided to lock me away instead of keeping me with her." 


	12. Chapter 12

"This place is, cozy." Alessia looked around the room, piles of bones scattering the area. 

"Shockingly it actually use to be." Serana looked around the Castle Undercroft, most of it was unfamiliar to her. 

"What was it like before you and your parents became vampires?" Alessia watched as Serana looked around what was left in the undercroft, stopping once she heard the question. 

"We were actually a family. Normal for our standards. My mother taught me what there was to know about the world at that time and my father wanted me to marry some nice guy from the area." She looked back as she heard Alessia chuckle from behind her. "What?" 

"Couldn't find a guy good enough for you?" 

"I was with someone neither of my parents would approve of at that time." Alessia's smile fell from her face once she realized Serana was upset about the question. "Let's just figure out where my mother is." 

Alessia was unimpressed by what was in the Undercroft. There were only a few skeletons and one large spider she would have rather not seen. They quickly found a door leading to the Courtyard of the castle. 

"This is the Courtyard. It use to be beautiful here and of course my father just let it go to ruin." Serana walked further into the Courtyard, Alessia slowly walked behind her. "The moon dial looks wrong, pieces are missing. Maybe if we find those pieces and put them back something will happen?" 

Alessia walked away without a word, carefully walking around the area looking for pieces to the moon dial. She came back a few minutes later with three different moon crests, handing them to Serana. Placing them on the dial, the floor opened up, a staircase leading downwards to a door. 

"Definitely my mother's work." 

Past the door was a large dining area, skeletons sitting at the chairs surrounding the table. The area was in ruined from abandonment. Light erupted in the room as the skeletons rose from their seats. The skeletons didn't last long as Serana and Alessia quickly got rid of them. 

The following rooms were full of both gargoyles and skeletons. Reaching an area with a door closed by iron bars, Alessia quickly found a chain that would open it. As she pulled the chain a gargoyle erupted from the statue right in front of her. 

Alessia's sword pierced the gargoyles back, causing it to fall limp as Serana let loose an ice spike at it. They came across some more skeletons and gargoyles before they reached a dead end. Serana walked up to a wall with candle sticks on each side. Alessia walked up to the candle stick on the right and pulled on it, nothing happened. She walked over to the next one and did the same, this time it moved and showed a hidden entrance. 

They walked down a long hallway, it eventually led to a door. Serana opened it and quickly walked inside, glancing around the large room they just entered. 

"This is my mother's study. Everything looks the same except that." Serana pointed at large circles that were surrounded by candles. "She might have left her notes somewhere around here." 

Alessia nodded and walked to the few bookshelves in the corner of the room. After looking for a few moments she came across a journal that she figured might have some information in it. Finding Serana over by a shelf with multiple ingredients on it. 

"That's a portal to the Soul Cairn. She has to be there, that's why my father could never find her." Serana continued reading the journal before looking up at Alessia. "You've been awfully quiet. Is something wrong?" 

"I'm sorry about asking about before you were turned. You seemed upset about somethings mentioned." 

"I was upset. After I was in the ritual I never saw her again, I never got the chance to say goodbye to her or tell her I was leaving. So I don't know what happened to her. I said before that I never felt loved by someone or felt love towards someone, but that wasn't true. I loved her." Serana stared down at the book, not wanting to meet Alessia's eyes. 

She looked up once she felt Alessia's arms around her, she slowly brought her arms around her also and rested her head on her shoulder. 

"I'm sorry I asked, even though I couldn't have known before." Serana gave her a soft smile before looking back at the book. 

"We have a problem." 

"What?" Alessia stepped back as Serana slammed the journal closed and threw it to the closest shelf. 

"We need purified void salts, finely ground bone meal, soul gem shards and my mother's blood. Clearly we can't get that from the local merchant, let alone in here." 

"You are related by blood so yours will have to do then, hopefully it works. Let's find everything else, you probably know what everything is in here while I don't so I can get the gem shards." 

Serana and Alessia walked around the room, looking for what they needed. They met at a ledge with a chalice and placed the ingredients into it. Serana pulled out her dagger and was about to make a cut on her hand but Alessia stopped her. 

"Do you know what you are going to do once we find her, if we do?" Serana looked across the room before looking at Alessia. 

"I'm just hoping to find the Scroll and have no problems at this point. My family already has enough issues at this point." Serana turned her attention back to the dagger, making a small cut in her hand, letting the blood drip into the chalice. 

The portal quickly opened up, stairs forming as the circles moved towards the ledge. Where those originally were, the floor opened up to show an empty purple area. 

"Hopefully this doesn't kill us. This won't kill us right?" Alessia looked at Serana with concern, but Serana had a smile on her face. 

"If we were alive, yes. We aren't alive technically, so it won't." Alessia sighed before walking toward the entrance, Serana following her. 

Saying that walking into the Soul Cairn felt weird just a bit was an understatement. Alessia shuddered as they passed through the portal. Looking back, she saw Serana with a disappointed expression. 

"Should of known better than to expect her to great us right as we entered." Alessia looked around and saw nothing, only piles of bones and an occasional shape of a person somewhere. 

"Who are they?" Serana looked at where Alessia was looking, seeing a couple people sitting on a ledge. 

"They're souls. They got trapped here after they died." They turned their attention to a man yelling as he frantically ran around the path in front of them. 

"I don't like this place so I'm sticking to the path." Alessia began to walk, hearing Serana follow behind her. 

"Need someone to hold your hand until we find my mother?" Serana received a glare as she grabbed Alessia's hand. 

"No I do not. You might though." 

Continuing down the path, they ran into what Serana called Bonemen. It didn't take long before a large building that looked like a castle on the outside appeared in their line of sight. As they got closer Serana began to run with Alessia not far behind her. 

"Mother?" Alessia stopped at the top of the stairs when she saw a woman that looked very similar to Serana. The woman quickly turned around as Serana quickly approached, but was stopped by some type of barrier between them. 

"Serana?" The woman smiled but it quickly disappeared, turning into a stern look. "What are you doing here? Does your father know you are here?" 

"He doesn't know I'm here. We need to talk, how can we get inside?" Serana placed her hand against the barrier then looked to her mother. 

"He deciphered the prophecy." Serana's mother looked upset, glancing over to Alessia quickly before staring at her feet. 

"No he hasn't. We came here to stop him." Her mother looked at Alessia again, crossing her arms. 

"Serana why have you brought a stranger here?"

"No mother she-" Serana's mother interrupted her before she could finish. 

"Come here, I would like to speak to you." Alessia slowly walked over to where they were, glancing at Serana before turning to her mother. "Why is it a vampire of mixed blood is in the company of my daughter?"

"I've been keeping her safe." Serana gave Alessia a comforting smile as she glanced between her and her mother nervously. 

"She has not explained anything then, bringing her here isn't what you call safe. She has sacrificed everything to prevent Harkon from completing this prophecy. She should have explained that." Alessia took a deep breathe, waiting for more than that but it never came. 

"I'm here for the Elder Scroll." 

"I didn't place her in that tomb only for the protection of the Elder Scroll. The main key to this prophecy is Serana herself, I would have thought she explained that to you." 

"She has, the blood of a Daughter of Coldharbour, a sacrifice." 

"Now you see why I protected her and kept the Elder Scroll far from her, where Harkon could never find it. If her father got the Elder Scrolls, Serana, and Auriel's Bow which I'm sure you've heard of, the prophecy would be complete." Alessia looked at Serana, she was staring back at her, unsure of how Alessia would react. 

"I wouldn't let Harkon do anything to hurt her ma'am." 

"My name is Valerica, please use it. But how do you plan on completing this prophecy without the death of Serana?" Alessia thought for a moment before she came up with an idea, one Serana might not approve of. 

"I'll kill Harkon." Alessia glanced over at Serana and saw a shocked expression on her face. 

"You must be a fool. I already thought about that option before doing what I actually did." 

"And what is Serana's opinion on this?" Valerica began to pace in front of Alessia before speaking. 

"You care nothing for Serana or our plight. You see the Tyranny of the Sun as your chance at deification, and like Harkon you won't hesitate to destroy anything that stands in your path." 

Alessia clenched her fists as she heard Valerica comparing her to Harkon. "Your daughter believes in me. Why can't you?"

"This stranger may call herself a vampire, but she knows nothing of our struggle. Why should I entrust you to her?" Valerica turned to Serana, Alessia keeping her fists clenched as she glared at Valerica.

"Because mother, Alessia is no stranger. She's done so much more for me in the short time I've known her than you have done in centuries." Serana crossed her arms, glaring at Valerica.

"I gave up everything I cared about to protect you from that fanatic you call a father!" Valerica glared back at Serana, Alessia slowly stepped closer to Serana, placing a hand on her lower back hoping to calm her down. 

"He's a fanatic... he's changed, he's still my father. Why can't you understand how that makes me feel?" Alessia rolled her eyes, clearly she didn't help at calming her down much. 

"If only you'd open your eyes. The moment your father discovers your role in the prophecy, you'd be in terrible danger." 

"So you lock me away from everything I care about, for protection? You never asked if hiding me in that tomb was the best course of action, you just expected me to follow you blindly. Both of you were obsessed with your own paths. Your motivations might have been different, but in the end, I'm still just a pawn to you too. Right now it feels like Alessia is the only family I have. I thought we could be one again but maybe that isn't for us." Again, Alessia rolled her eyes and broke her silence. 

"Serana calm down a little please." Alessia felt Serana get less tense as she whispered in her ear, but still continued speaking with the same tone to her mother. 

"We have to stop him before he goes to far. We need the Elder Scroll." Alessia looked over at Valerica who was suspiciously looking at her. She took a step back from Serana and Valerica turned back to Serana. 

"If you want the Elder Scroll, it's yours." Alessia was staring at her feet but her attentioned turned to Valerica as she heard her walk in front of her. "Your intentions are still somewhat unclear to me. It seems that Serana cares for you, and you care for her. So for her sake I will assist you in anyway I can." 

"Do you have the Scroll with you?" Alessia decided not to comment about her caring about Serana. She knew she more than cared about Serana. 

"I've kept it safely secured here since I was imprisoned. Fortunately, you're in a position to breach the barrier that surrounds these ruins." Alessia didn't like the sound of that, most likely another dangerous mission. 

"What do we need to do?" 

"You need to locate the tallest of the rocky spires that surround these ruins. At their bases, the barrier's energy is being drawn from unfortunate souls that have been exiled here. Destroy the Keepers that are tending them, and it should bring the barrier down." 

"We'll be back I guess." Alessia was about to turn around but heard Valerica clear her throat. 

"One more word of warning. There's a dragon that calls itself Durnehviir roaming the Cairn. Be wary of him. The Ideal Masters have charged him with overseeing the Keepers, and will undoubtedly intervene if you're perceived as a threat." Both nodded to Valerica and walked off to find the spires. 

The Keepers didn't last long once Alessia and Serana found them. Most had a couple Bonemen or Mistmen with them. They quickly found their way back to Valerica, also to find the barrier down. 

"You managed to destroy all three Keepers? Very impressive. Come with me and I can give you the Scroll. Keep watch for Durnehviir. With the prison's barrier down, he's almost certain to investigate." The three walked into Boneyard, Alessia quickly felt uneasy once they entered. 

Alessia looked of to the distance and saw what made her uneasy, a dragon, perched on the opposite wall of the Boneyard. She turned back and heard Valerica mumble under her breath, the name Durnehviir. The dragon moved from his place on the wall, as he did Alessia heard him Shout, one she's never heard before. 

Bonemen began appearing from the ground, Alessia reacted quickly, shooting arrows as fast as she could before they could reach them. Beside her, she heard the crackling sound of lightning as Serana let it loose at Durnehviir's wings causing him to land. Alessia noticed that he was about to either freeze them or burn them as he brought his head back. 

"Put up a ward." Alessia pulled Serana close to her in enough time for Serana to summon a ward before Durnehviir's ice breath reached them. Valerica was off in the distance doing what she could to weaken Durnehviir. 

"I'll distract him, go do your thing." Alessia nodded as Serana ran off, hitting the dragon with large ice spikes. 

Dropping her bow, Alessia unsheathed her sword and quickly became invisible. She ran as fast as she could over to Durnehviir, glad Serana kept aiming for his wings so he wouldn't fly away. As his head neared the ground Alessia grabbed onto one of the many horns, pulling herself onto him. She quickly struck her sword into the back of his head, causing him to fall limp under her. 

"That's weird." Alessia watched as the dragon burned into a purple fire, unlike other dragons she has encountered. 

"I'm guessing that's not normal." Alessia saw Serana approaching her alongside Valerica. 

"Usually they go into like the normal color of fire, like in Rorikstead. I've never seen this." 

"Durnehviir isn't your average dragon, it was said that he couldn't be slain by normal means. It is possible that your killing blow has merely displaced Durnehviir's physical form while he reconstitutes himself." Alessia nodded while Valerica spoke, keeping her eyes on Serana still full of confusion. 

"That explains why I couldn't absorb his soul then maybe." Alessia turned to Valerica who now had the confused expression. "Oh, I'm Dragonborn. We didn't mention that when we first met."

"You did not, no wonder he didn't last so long against you then. Let's go get the Scroll so you can both be on your way." Valerica led them to a small alchemy station. Valerica opened up a large case, showing the Elder Scroll inside. Alessia grabbed it, then handed it to Serana to place inside her pack.

"What will you do now?" Alessia looked to Valerica after handing the Scroll to Serana. 

"I have to stay here. If I leave and go back to Tamriel the chance of the prophecy being complete is only greater." Valerica looked over Alessia's shoulder to see Serana looking over what was in the little alchemy lab. She placed her hand on Alessia's shoulder, having her walk a distance from Serana. 

Serana noticed them leave, but was still able to hear them speaking. 

"Please take care of Serana, she is the only thing I have left now. Before we went through with the ritual I knew she wasn't interested in men, I won't lie I wasn't happy about it. Seeing how you are, strong and able to protect her and yourself, I at least trust you with her. I'm happy she has someone that cares for her, even if you are a mixed blood and woman." Serana quickly looked over to see Alessia look down at the ground, smiling. 

She turned her attention back to what she was doing as Alessia began speaking, but stopped once she heard Alessia speak three words she never thought she would hear someone say about her again, three words she hasn't heard in centuries.

"Thank you. Ever since I met Serana  I've been trying to protect her. It hasn't been that long since I did meet her but I care strongly for her. Enough that I'm pretty sure that I love her."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it took longer than usual for me to update, I was feeling sick the past few days but I'm better now. I'll try to continue the updates for every other day from now on.


	13. Chapter 13

"Serana?" Looking up from the book she was reading, Serana saw her mother standing in the door frame. "You have a friend here to see you. She's waiting outside." 

Walking outside, a big smile was found on Serana's face. As soon as she saw her she ran, giving her a tight hug. 

"I'm so glad you're back. I missed you so much." 

"How much?" She smirked as Serana grabbed her hand, pulling her inside her home and to her room. 

"Way too much." Serana pushed her against the wall, making up for the lonely months by kissing her. 

"Your parents are home." Serana was pushed slightly back, looking up once she heard her speak. 

"I don't really care." She laughed and kissed Serana on the forehead. 

"I love you and we have all the time we want now because I don't plan on leaving anytime soon." 

"You better not." Serana was glad she made her laugh again, she missed it to much. "I love you too." 

* * *

Serana wanted to run over and hug Alessia, but all she could do was stare over at her. She was then hit with concern on how her mother would react. She was quickly surprised when she saw her mother pull Alessia in for a hug. She pulled away but kept her hands on Alessia's shoulders. 

"You two should head back. Please take care of her." Alessia nodded, as they both smiled, then looked to Serana. 

"I'll let you say your goodbyes." Serana walked over to them, stopping Alessia from leaving before turning to her mother. 

"I don't really know what else to say other than thank you." Serana shifted nervously on her feet and played with the ends of her sleeves. 

"You don't have to thank me. Just get back there and do what you have to do." Serana shocked herself when she hugged her mother. Alessia smiled to Valerica one last time before they walked away. 

"You okay?" Alessia only received a nod in response as they walked towards the doors. "I didn't know what to expect really, but I'm glad it went this way. Probably could have gone better at the beginning." 

Before opening the door, Alessia was stopped as Serana stepped in front of her. She looked down as she felt Serana intertwine their fingers and took a deep breath. 

"What did you and my mother talk about before we left?"

Alessia began to stutter before she found actually words. "Uh well, nothing important I guess." 

"Okay. Let's get going I guess." Alessia nervously scratched her neck as Serana opened the door out of the Boneyard. 

As they walked from the door, a purple flash appeared in front of them, Durnehviir coming from it. Alessia grabbed her bow from her back and quickly aimed an arrow at him. 

"Stay your weapons. I wish to speak with you, Qahnaarin." Alessia put the arrow back in her quiver and slung the bow back across her back. 

"I thought you were dead." 

"Cursed, not dead. Doomed to exist in this form for eternity. Trapped between laas and dinok, between life and death." Alessia looked at Serana, rolling her eyes at the look of curiosity she saw on her face. 

"Why are we speaking?" 

"I believe in civility among seasoned warriors, and I find your ear worthy of my words. My claws have rended the flesh of innumerable foes, but I have never once been felled on the field of battle. Therefore I honor-name you 'Qahnaarin,' or Vamquisher in your tongue." 

Alessia couldn't help but let a small smile appear on her face before speaking. "I found you equally worthy. You did almost freeze me and my friend back there." Durnehviir let out what seemed to be a laugh once she finished. 

"Your words do me great honor. My desire to speak with you was born from the result of our battle, Qahnaarin. I merely wish to respectfully ask a favor of you."

"What kind of favor?" Alessia had no idea what she could do for a dragon, let alone a cursed one. 

"For countless years I've roamed the Soul Cairn, in unintended service to the Ideal Masters. Before this, I roamed the skies above Tamriel. I desire to return there." 

"What's stopping you?" 

"I fear that my time here has taken its toll upon me. I share a bond with this dreaded place. If I ventured far from the Soul Cairn, my strength would begin to wane until I was no more."

"How could I help?" She looked over at Serana who now shared the same confused expression she has.

"I will place my name with you and grant you the right to call my name from Tamriel. Do me this simple honor and I will fight at your side as your Grah-Zeymahzin, your Ally, and teach you my Thu'um." 

"Just call your name in Tamriel? That's it?" 

"Trivial in your mind, perhaps. For me, it would mean a great deal. I don't require an answer, Qahnaarin. Simply speak my name to the heavens when you feel the time is right." Alessia was only able to nod before Durnehviir flew off into the distance. 

"Is it smart to bring a dragon up there now?" 

Alessia snorted and looked over at Serana. "Not with every single person on dragon watch. I think we should be more worried about how we will get the Scroll to Dexion since I sent him to the Dawnguard." 

"Why did you send him there? Last I remember they tried killing me and threatened you." 

"I wasn't going to send him to your father, he would be the dead one then." Alessia looked past Serana as she saw a couple souls running around, it sounded as if they were yelling. 

"We could always just sneak into there." 

"Knowing Isran he would sense us seconds." Serana began walking up the stairs to the portal, waiting until they passed through to speak. 

"He said we weren't welcome, and if I get something shot at me during the day or you did we won't heal. Wouldn't be shocked if he let us sit there and die." 

"So we go at night. The rest we can figure out once we get there." Alessia looked around the room, half expecting someone to come from a dark corner and greet them. 

"We still need another Scroll, so it looks like we are going back to the College of Winterhold." 

"This one better be in a nice place. Maybe in a meadow of flowers, nobody to annoy us so we can just grab the Scroll and leave." Serana laughed at Alessia as they began to make their way out of the ruins. 

"Aren't you a big dreamer." 

"Too ambitious?" Serana nodded, causing the rest of their trip out of the castle to be in silence. 

She was thankful for the silence, it gave her time to think about what Alessia said to her mother. It confused her that out of all people, she was able to tell her mother that but yet unable to tell Serana. And out of all the things her mother could have done, she hugged her. If Alessia was mortal, her mother probably would have drained her dry for what she said. 

Being to caught up in her thoughts, she didn't even realize they were outside until she ran into Alessia. 

"You just had to interrupt my peaceful thinking." Alessia gave her a stern look before smiling. 

"Your peaceful thinking was bothering me, sorry." Alessia flinched, grabbing her arm after Serana pinched her. 

"Maybe I'll just start thinking out loud. Would that bother you more?" 

"You would be nonstop talking wherever we go then. What were you peacefully thinking about anyway?" 

"You. Nothing bad, not really." 

"Gonna share?" Serana stepped onto the boat, Alessia quickly climbed in after she pushed it off the sand. 

"Your butt looks cute in that armor." 

"Remind me to get some new armor then. I try to not make any part of me look cute at all times, I go for more of that don't fuck with me or you won't see another day." Alessia tried to suppress her smile, but was unsuccessful once she looked to Serana. 

"But I'm still here." 

"There's a difference between sleeping with someone and messing with someone. Same word, two meanings. I was using the second meaning." Alessia laughed for a moment before continuing. "If I was using the first meaning I would make exceptions." 

"How charming." 

"I've been trying lately." Serana couldn't help but laugh as she leaned her head on Alessia's shoulder. "What do you want to see after everything is over?"

"We can decide if we make it through this. My mother is more powerful than me and she was still not sure if she could kill my father. Who knows if we could." 

Alessia sighed, leaning her head against Serana's. "Your mother wants me to protect you and I want to also. If one of us makes it out of there it's you." 

"It's both of us, we will both make it. Together for eternity."

* * *

"What do you mean you won't help us?" Alessia was staring down Urag gro-Shub, Serana was behind her trying not to laugh. 

"This is the second time you've come to me about Elder Scrolls, I don't trust what two vampires could be doing with one now." That time Serana did let out a small laugh, only heard by Alessia. 

"We don't have one, we have two. We need a third one though, and I figured that you know where it is." Alessia looked around the room before smirking, turning back to Urag. "I hear that books are pretty flammable." 

"You wouldn't." Alessia lifted her hand above the desk, showing a small flame in the palm of her hand. 

"Listen, I'm only here to help save the world from eternal darkness. You choose, the books go away or you tell me where the Scroll is and I'll leave." Picking up a book on the desk, Alessia held it over the fire she still kept in her palm. 

"Fine, put that book down. Give me one second." Alessia walked back to stand by Serana as he went to a bookshelf, opening it and grabbing a few books from it. 

"I thought magic wasn't your thing." 

"I still know a few things." 

"This is all I have. Keep your flames under control when you're reading these." Urag came back with three books, setting them on his desk. 

"I'll try my best." After he walked away, Serana glared at Alessia as they both picked up a book to begin reading. "What?" 

"I'm shocked you were able to behave yourself around my mother." 

"She scared me a little bit. If I didn't she probably would have done anything to get past that barrier to strangle me." 

"Is the Tower of Mzark in Skyrim?" Serana points to a sentence in the book she was reading, it mentioned the Tower of Mzark but said nothing of Elder Scrolls. 

"I think so. I don't know exactly where it's at or what it even looks like though." Alessia pulled out a piece of paper from her sack, reading it over then looking back to Serana. "I know someone who could probably help us."

"You don't sound to excited about that."

"I'm not. Remember the woman in Kynesgrove that said you were with the Thalmor?" 

"Yeah. You also sort of accused her of being a Thalmor spy." 

"I could of said worse. Since the last Scroll is the one about dragons, she might know about it. Maybe at least know where the Tower of Mzark is." 

"Where are we off to now?" They both set down the books, leaving the room, heading out of the college. 

"Riverwood. I've only been there once, it looked nice though." Alessia walked up to the carriage driver, tossing him a bag of coins and told him where to go. 

"Never been. Stuck in my wonderful castle in the younger days." Alessia laughed as she sat across from Serana in back of the carriage. 

"And you say you aren't a princess." Alessia smiled to herself, laying down on the seat and falling asleep. 

Serana was watching some mammoths as she heard Alessia wake up. She looked around, noticing that Dragonsreach was in view. Serana smiled and moved next to Alessia, laying down with her head on her lap. 

"Don't try falling asleep because we will be there in about ten minutes." 

"I'm not. I had a question." Serana looked up at Alessia who was staring down at her blankly, waiting for the question. "What are we?"

"What?" 

"I didn't want to say it like that. Are we just gonna be those people who sleep together every so often? I don't want to be those people." Alessia could only smile for a few moments for responding. 

"We don't have to. What do you want us to be?" 

Serana smiled, "I want us to be a thing, just us. I don't know how to really say it I guess." 

"I know what you mean. I'm okay with us being a thing, as you say." Serana sat up, kissing Alessia as the carriage came to a halt outside of the small village. 

Stepping out of the carriage, Alessia looked around the not so familiar area. If the inn didn't have a sign outside she probably wouldn't be able to find it on her own. It was peaceful, she thought to herself, it would be even more if there weren't two people arguing outside of the store. 

Before she could even reach the stairs of the inn, Serana pulled her to the side of the building. 

"Drink this before we go in. You haven't had any in a day or two and your eyes are brighter than the sun." Alessia took the bottle, drinking it without thinking about what it was. Slowly, it was becoming easier for her to drink the bottles of blood, but sooner or later she knew they would run out. 

Walking inside the inn, the first thing Alessia noticed was a reminder of Helgen. Hadvar was sitting in a chair by the door, talking to someone else. He looked up once her heard the door close, smiling as he saw Alessia. 

"It's been awhile, hasn't it?" 

"Yeah it has. I would love to talk but I'm sort of in a rush. Do you happen to know where Delphine is?" Hadvar nodded, pointing to a room at the far side of the inn. "Thank you." 

Alessia quickly knocked on the door, letting out a sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding in as she heard footsteps. 

"You actually showed up. Didn't take long for you to become a vampire, I'm not to shocked about that." Delphine laughed as she noticed Alessia's eyes, then motioned for them to come in. 

"I'm not here about me being Dragonborn. Is there a place more private we can speak?" Delphine led them through a hidden door, down to a room with a table in the center.

"What do you need?" 

"Serana's father is basically trying to end the world, he doesn't know how yet though. In order for us to stop him we need three Elder Scrolls. We already have two of them but we need the last one, the one that talks about dragons. I was hoping you might know about it." Alessia only received a look that she took as Delphine thinking she's crazy. 

"I don't know where it is." 

"Do you know where the Tower of Mzark is?" Serana looked at a map on the table, maybe hoping it had a list of every single place in Skyrim on it. It was only blank with the word Kynesgrove written on it. 

"I know where it is. Part of Alftand, Dwemer ruin." Delphine pointed to a random spot on the map that was southwest of Winterhold. "Walking into a death trap is what you're going to be doing if you go look for that Scroll." 

"Then I'll at least die trying to save the world." 

"You've been sitting back for a whole year, doing nothing about taking care of the dragons. Now some woman comes along and you're out to go save the world?" Alessia nodded and began walking towards the stairs. "Wait." 

"What, have something else to criticize about me? That's all you seem to do in those letters." Alessia watched Delphine carefully as she began grabbing weapons from around the room. 

"No, I'm making sure you stay alive. I'm coming with you."


	14. Chapter 14

"No you aren't. I can handle myself just fine." Alessia continued to watch as Delphine grabbed random things from around the room. 

"You're already practically dead and I'm not letting you get anymore dead. So yes, I'm coming with you." Delphine smiled, walking past Alessia and up the stairs. 

Serana and Alessia followed behind her as they left the inn. Delphine led them back the way they came towards Winterhold. 

After they reached Nightgate Inn, Delphine led them up a path between two mountains. 

"It's up through here. If you guys don't want to burn or whatever it is you do in the sun I suggest you hurry." Alessia rolled her eyes, glad Delphine was in front of them so she couldn't see. 

"Is it bad if I say I'd rather be stuck in that castle of yours than with her?" 

"Just be nice, you don't even really know her. At least she's trying to help." Alessia looked to the distance and saw a couple of towers and two wooden shacks. 

They found an entrance carved into the side of a glacier. Serana set up some frost runes near the entrance in case someone did follow them. Walking further in, they found multiple wood boxes scattered in a corner. 

"We should rest before we start looking around in here. It could be a few days until we find the Tower of Mzark." Delphine began breaking up the boxes, leaving a pile of small wooden planks in front of her. "We can use these for a fire." 

"I'll watch first. We took a carriage to Riverwood and I slept on the way." Alessia down, leaving against some of the boxes that weren't broken. 

"I don't need to sleep, especially not around two vampires." Delphine sat on the other side of the fire, keeping her eyes on Alessia and Serana. 

"I'm going to sleep." Serana sat down next to Alessia, whispering something so Delphine couldn't hear. "Try to be nice for me at least." 

Alessia said nothing as Serana rested her head on her lap, quickly falling asleep. She kept her eyes on Serana, brushing her fingers through her hair, only stopping when she heard Delphine chuckle. 

"I thought you and your Housecarl were sleeping together, no?" Alessia looked up to see Delphine with a smirk on her face. 

"How would you know about that?" 

"The guards in Riverwood are the same ones from Whiterun. One week they're here and the next they're there, rumors spread." 

"Well I was, not anymore. She had issues with my making friends with a vampire. Out of all things you ask about, you choose to ask about my love life." Alessia laughed at herself, leaning her head against the wall of ice behind her.

"I'm trying to trust you. I want you to trust me. Maybe by getting to know each other, we can at least try to do that." Delphine stood up, moving closer to Alessia. 

"There's not much to know about me. Ask away though." Alessia's head was running all over the place, wondering what Delphine would want to know about her. 

"I'll start simple. Where are you from?" 

Alessia let out a small sigh before answering. "I'm from Bravil. Lived there for 24 years." 

"I never expected the Dragonborn to be Imperial, but you do have some characteristics of a Nord." Alessia looked over at her with a confused expression. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Well you are tall, most Imperials I met are a bit shorter. You have blonde hair also. You have the complextion of an Imperial though." 

"I'm Imperial, same as my mother." Alessia closed her eyes, hoping Delphine would stop talking. Sadly that didn't happen.

"Your father?" 

"I don't know who my father is, could be anyone in Bravil. Look I'm done talking about me." Alessia thought for a moment before a question popped into her head. "Why are you so interested in me?" 

"As I told you before, I'm one of the last members of the Blades. During the First Era, we were dragon hunters. After the Oblivion Crisis the Thalmor have been looking everywhere for us. They almost got me a couple times actually. Before then we protected the Emperors, but that job turned to the Penitus Oculatus." Delphine paused for a moment before continuing. 

"The White-Gold Concordat ended the Blades. Now I have a reason to be a Blade, and that's you. I can finally be useful for once. As a Blade I'm sworn to protect the Dragonborn, so that's what I'm doing." 

"Makes sense why you sent weekly letters then. When I did find out I was Dragonborn, I wanted nothing to do with it. If I could I would have given it to someone else, can't do that though." Alessia looked down at Serana, placing her hand on her cheek. "When she first found out I was Dragonborn she asked what I was. I felt like an object more than a person. After I said that to her she didn't care really, saw me as an actual person. I was thankful for that." 

"It might not have seemed like it but I do see you as a person." Alessia smiled and looked over to Delphine, then shook her head. 

"Thanks I guess. All I hear now is about how I didn't go see the Greybeards. You should get some rest, it looks like you haven't slept in days." 

"Alright. Even though I'm suppose to protect you, if you go near my neck don't expect me to not hurt you." Delphine moved back to where she was originally, pulling a bedroll out of her pack and falling asleep. 

* * *

A few hours later Alessia felt Serana moving around on her lap, looking down to see she was waking up. She looked over and saw Delphine was still asleep. 

"Did you rest at all?" Serana looked up at Alessia, she only shook her head no in response. "You should of." 

"I was to busy getting questioned by our friend over there." Alessia motioned to where Delphine was sleeping. "Don't worry, I was nice." 

"What did she ask you?" 

"She asked about me and Lydia. Then where I was from. She also asked about my father." Serana sat up, a puzzled look on her face. 

"You said you don't know who he was." 

"Yeah I don't. She said that I have some Nord characteristics, maybe implying my father might be a Nord." Alessia stood up, adjusting her weapons after she stretched. "We should get going." 

Serana put out the fire while Alessia woke up Delphine. The first thing Alessia noticed when they went around the corner was blood, and a lot of it. Bedrolls were scattered around an area that was used for a fire. Delphine noticed it once it was in sight, it didn't seem to bother her like it would another person. 

The blood trailed down a path covered by wooden planks. First signs of it being a Dwemer ruin appeared when they walked further, stone walls appeared through the ice along with stone pillars. 

"Watch for Dwarven machines. Dwarven Spiders tend to hang out in the pipes." Golden pipes ran through the halls, some occasionally making weird noises as they walked by. 

Silence quickly crept over them as they walked through the ruin. Much to there luck, nothing tried to attack them yet. 

"This is some weird ruin." Delphine stepped through a door, not opening it wide enough for Serana and Alessia to see inside from where they were. 

"What are you-" Alessia stopped mid sentence, through the door she saw something she's never seen before. It looked like there were stars in the sky, yet they were still inside. Large glowing objects shaped like mushrooms scattered the large area. 

"Wow. This is... wow." Everything was silent, only the steady flow of water was heard. Alessia looked around, something caught her attention to the left of them. 

She silently groaned before turning to Serana and Delphine. "We have company to our left." 

"Falmer." Delphine was about to ready an arrow but Alessia quickly stopped her. 

"They're blind, we can easily get past them." 

"They have great hearing and smell, who cares if they are blind. They will still find us." 

"As a child I had to be silent so I could steal food so me and my siblings could survive. When I came to Skyrim I was trained by the Thieves Guild to be quick and silent on my feet." Alessia began walking away from Delphine before turning back to her. "I can be quiet without even trying." 

"By the Gods you're going to get yourself killed." Delphine and Serana followed behind her, both watching where they stepped. "Is she always like this?" 

"Like what?" 

"Getting into dangerous situations, not caring about what the outcome is." Serana couldn't help but laugh, earning a glare from Alessia. 

"She didn't hesitate as she walked into a castle full of vampires. Then she offended one of the most powerful vampires who also happens to be my father." Delphine chuckled as they walked under a bridge, both of them unsure of where Alessia could possibly be leading them. 

"You know I can hear you two." 

"Where are you even leading us too?" Delphine caught up to Alessia as they walked by more of the glowing mushrooms. 

"I was just hoping if I walked around here long enough the Scroll would just pop right out in front of us." Delphine rolled her eyes, Serana eventually caught up with them. "I mean a Scroll did fall out of monolith and the only effort I did was getting a hole stabbed through my hand."

"I thought we were being quiet during this." Serana looked behind her and saw a Falmer walking a distance behind them. 

"We will now." Alessia grabbed her bow and aimed an arrow at the Falmer, then released it, glad that it fell without a sound. 

Continuing down the path, while sneaking past multiple Falmer, eventually a tower came into sight. They quickly reached the bridge that connected the tower to the land. 

"Hopefully this is the right tower." Serana was the first to enter, followed by Alessia then Delphine. 

Past the door was only a lever, according to Delphine it was a lift. Probably to take them to the actual tower. The lift made an unpleasant sound after the lever was pulled, but it stopped once they felt it rising. 

It felt like hours before the lift came to a halt. Those moments were spent in silence. Alessia and Serana were use to it, but Delphine thought it was weird how silent it was. 

Nothing looked different as the exited the lift. It looked like a normal Dwemer ruin, not a place an Elder Scroll would be. Alessia wasn't bothered by it, she found a Scroll in a cave and in the Soul Cairn. Delphine was disappointed, she sulked behind her and Serana, she expected the Scroll to be protected by some terrible creature or machine. 

They passed through another door, a large object blocked their view from seeing anything else in the room.

"Now that looks like something that could hold an Elder Scroll." Delphine walked up to it, placing her hand on it. 

Alessia walked up a ramp, getting a better view. Serana followed behind her, her attention quickly turned to a few buttons in front of Alessia. 

"You can press it. Maybe you'll get another hole in your hand and find a vampire." 

"I was hoping for that to happen. Maybe she has a good sense of humor." Alessia quickly pressed the button and pulled her hand back. 

The object began to move, lights reflecting off of glass all shining on the center. From the center, an egg shaped thing appeared. Alessia slowly walked over to it, touching it carefully. 

She grasped the handles on both sides, gently opening it. A bright light came from the inside, temporarily blinding both Alessia and Serana. Once she regained her sight, a big smile appeared on her face. 

"Elder Scroll number three belongs to us now." Alessia carefully picked it up and placed it in her pack. 

"Reliving your time with the Guild?" 

Alessia smiled and walked over to Serana. "This is better." 

"How so?" 

"Because I get to do this." Alessia kissed Serana, smiling when she was pulled closer. 

"Can you do that later? Let's get out of here." Delphine didn't wait for an answer before she walked into another lift. 

"I thought you said these places were death traps, this one isn't." Delphine didn't answer, only pulling the lever as they got onto the lift. 

It didn't take as long for this lift to stop, Serana was the first to step out into the sun. Alessia followed, glad that it felt warm outside considering that snow was laying on the ground everywhere. 

"I should get back to Riverwood. Good luck with your saving the world thing." Delphine begins to walk away from them, only stopping when she felt a hand around her wrist. 

"Thank you. For helping us. Once this is over, maybe I can do something about the dragons. With your help." Alessia only got a nod in response as Delphine turned and walked away. 

Alessia looked at her surroundings, trying to figure out where they were. She pulled out her map, hoping that it could help out. 

"Whiterun is south of here. If you're good we can go right to the Dawnguard." 

"Are you okay?" Alessia turned around, raising her eyebrow at Serana. 

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." 

"I'm going to worry about you no matter what." Alessia barely heard her, she just ignored her, figuring she didn't want to be heard. 

"Once we find a path it will be easier to figure out where we are going." Serana knew she heard her. She trudged behind Alessia as they searched for a path to Riften. 

* * *

"We are close, let's figure out what we are going to to." Their trip to Riften was the most eventful one they had. Other than it being silent as usual, they ran into many wild animals that decided to attack them. 

"You decide, you know them better than I do." Serana sat down on a fallen tree, looking up at Alessia. 

"I'm just going to walk in, you stay close. It's not the smartest idea but sneaking in won't work. I can try to reason with them." 

The fort had more patrols than before, most likely due to Alessia and Serana's last appearance there. Alessia slowly approached one of the patrols that she recognized as Celann. 

"Alessia... you're one of them, aren't you?" Alessia quickly shook her head no putting her hands up in the air. She motioned for him to follow her a distance away from everyone else. 

"I'm not working with them, you have to trust me. Serana, she is the daughter of a very powerful vampire. He's trying to basically end the world by blocking out the sun. She's helping me stop him so you can trust her." Alessia then motioned for Serana to come over to them. 

"You're the one that was shot not to long ago." Serana only nodded, not looking at Celann but at Alessia. 

"We need to speak to Dexion, he should be here. We met him and had him read an Elder Scroll. He said we need two more to know what else is needed to block out the sun." 

"Follow me, I'll take you to him." Celann turned away, staying close to Alessia and Serana so nobody would harm them. Serana looked down, grabbing Alessia's hand as they walked past the gate. 

"Celann! Why are you bringing those into here?" Celann jumped as he heard Isran yelling. Alessia looked up and saw him angrily walking towards them with his weapon drawn. 

"Alessia said she needed to speak to Dexion, the Moth Priest." Isran laughed when he looked into Alessia's eyes, then down to the hand that was intertwined with Serana's. 

"They aren't stepping one foot into that fort." 

"If I don't speak to him the sun could disappear forever. I'm not here to help the bad vampires. I'm here to help her. If I don't do this she could die, and so could all off you." Isran said nothing as he put his weapon away and motioned for them to follow him. 

"I'm going to trust what you are saying, and if any of it is a lie I won't hesitate to kill you." Isran spoke once they entered the fort, he led them to the dining area. "There he is." 

Alessia was the first to approach Dexion, Serana followed shortly after. Alessia silently cursed to herself. Dexion had a cloth tied around his head covering his eyes. 

"Dexion it's Alessia, we have the last two Scrolls." Alessia sat down across from him along with Serana. 

"I'm afraid to say I can no longer read Scrolls. The one you had me read caused me to go blind." Alessia let out a groan, slamming her fist down on the table. 

"What are we going to do then?" She stood up, pacing back and forth behind Serana. "I need the Scrolls read. I can't save her without knowing what they say." 

"Please, calm down. There is still a way for them to be read." Alessia stopped, sitting back down. 

"How?" 

"There is a place, east of Falkreath. It's called the Ancestor Glade. If you go there you can read the Scrolls. Once you get there you will know where to read it." 

"We should get going then." Alessia and Serana stood up and were almost out of the dining area before Dexion stopped them. 

"I must warn you about something. There could be problems by reading the Scroll, as you see for me." 

"What do you mean?" 

"You could go blind like me, maybe go insane." Dexion took a deep breath before he continued. "Reading the Scroll could also kill you." 


	15. Chapter 15

They didn't say anything as they left. They didn't say anything in Whiterun, where they stayed the night. They didn't say anything as they finished traveling to Ancestor Glade. They didn't say anything as entered Ancestor Glade. 

Alessia knew Serana wanted to say something about the scenery, but nothing was said. Nothing was said as Alessia began pulling out the Elder Scrolls from her pack, leaning them against a tree. 

She looked over to Serana, she was staring down at her feet, moving them around creating ripples in the water. She looked up once she heard Alessia walking towards the stream of light in front of them, a Scroll in her hand. She took a deep breath before she held the Scroll up so she could read it. 

"Wait." Alessia looked over to Serana, her eyes were closed and she was breathing unsteadily. Tears were slowly running down her cheeks as she approached Alessia. "Please don't." 

"I have to." She felt tears brimming her eyes, trying her best not to let them fall. 

"No you don't. We can take the Scrolls and get out of Skyrim. Go somewhere my father couldn't find us." Alessia wiped the tears from Serana's cheeks and smiled. 

"This is the only way. He will find us no matter what." She lifted the Scroll back up as Serana slowly stepped away, tears still falling but at a faster pace. 

Alessia slowly opened the Scroll, bright light streaming from it. Unknown patterns appeared in front of her. She picked up the next Scroll after gently placing the other on the ground. More patterns appeared in front of her, still unrecognizable. 

The next Scroll made everything clear. It was a map of the area between Markarth and Solitude, one location was showing on the map. She dropped the Scroll, quickly closing her eyes. 

She felt arms around her as she dropped to her knees, unable to open her eyes to see who it was. The next thing she noticed was a voice, calling her name. Whoever it was sounded like they were crying, everything to Alessia was blurry. 

"Alessia you're fine, calm down you're fine." Once the voice became clearer she realized she was breathing heavily and had tears running down her face. "Talk to me please." 

Alessia's eyes quickly shot open to see Serana in front of her. "The uh, the thing. The bow, yeah the bow. It's in Skyrim. North of uh the city, what's it called." 

Alessia closed her eyes and furrowed her brow, trying to concentrate. She knew what the city was called, she had to, she thought. She tried picturing what she saw in the Scrolls again but couldn't. 

"It's okay take your time." Alessia smiled, feeling Serana's hand against her cheek. 

"Markarth. Yeah Markarth. It's in a cave north of Markarth." She tilted her head like a lost dog before furrowing her brow again. "Or was it Morthal?" 

"Alessia." 

"It was Markarth. Serana I hope you know where Markarth is, I can't think right. I think." 

"I need you to stay here. I'll be right back." Alessia nodded slowly as Serana walked away from her. 

Serana walked over to the area where they entered. She heard them while Alessia was stuck in her own mind. Three vampires, all from her father's castle ran into the Glade. They quickly fell down as ice spikes larger than Serana hit them. She walked back down to see Alessia sitting in the water staring at her feet. 

"How are you doing?" Serana crouched down next to Alessia, picking up the Scrolls and putting them into her pack.  

"Disappointed. You were having fun over there without me." Serana did her best not to laugh at her, knowing that the effects from reading all three Elder Scrolls was still there. 

"Better disappointed than dead. Let's get you out of here." Serana helped her up and kept an arm around her as they walked out of Ancestor Glade. 

"Why is it cold here?" 

"We are in Skyrim, it's always cold here." 

"Mhm." Serana chuckled as they slowly walked to Falkreath. She was glad that there were signs along the road or she could have been walking them halfway across Skyrim before she found a place to stay. 

"Are we getting the bow now?" 

"No, I'm taking you to Falkreath so you can sleep." 

"The bow isn't in Falkreath. Do you remember where I said it was?" 

"North of Markarth." Serana let out a sigh of relief once she saw Falkreath in the distance. 

Alessia didn't say anything as they continued down the path. She was able to walk on her own once they got to entrance and was able to find the inn. The first thing she did when she entered was plopping down onto a bed, not caring about the arrows falling from her quiver and onto the floor. 

"If you wanted me to sleep you could have at least got a comfy bed." Alessia rolled around in the bed, trying her best to get comfy. This ended with her causing more arrows to fall over the floor making Serana laugh. 

"Let me help you." Serana walked over to her, taking her arrows, bow, and sword. She grabbed one of their packs, getting a nightgown and walking back to Alessia. "Here. I have to go get us something, so I'll be back." 

Serana walked out of the inn, making her way to what looked like a store. Behind the counter was a Redguard woman who introduced herself as Zaria. Serana quickly got what they needed before anyone walked into the store and questioned why she needed bottled blood. 

As she exited the store she was stopped by someone in black and red leather armor. The only feature she could see was the blue eyes and pale skin. Serana tried to walk around the person without a word but felt a hand around her wrist stopping her. 

"I need to speak to you. Follow me." Serana looked back at the person as she heard the voice, it was a woman. She walked behind one of the buildings, Serana reluctantly followed. 

"Can I help you?" Serana crossed her arms, staring right into the woman's eyes. She didn't seem fazed by the fact she was alone with a vampire. 

"I'm not scared of you vampire. Let me ask the questions. Do you know who I am, or who I'm with?" The woman leaned against the wall, as Serana had an amused look on her face. 

"You know those eyes are really familiar, let me think for a second." Serana paused for a moment, tapping her finger against her chin. "Oh! I got it, wait never mind I don't, I can't recognize people just by their eye color." 

"Watch your tongue. I'm going to guess you won't give me the information I need so," the woman paused as she pulled something from her pocket. "I need you to give this to your friend." 

"What's this?" Serana grabbed the piece of paper from the woman's hand, it had a seal on it she's never seen before. 

"For your friend's eyes only, Alessia." The woman walked away into the woods without another word. Serana looked at the paper, the seal had a hand on it. 

She pocketed the paper, walking back into the inn. Alessia was fast asleep on the bed. Serana sat down at the chair in the corner of the room, pulling out the paper. She was tempted to open it and see if there was any information about who that woman was. 

Serana got a bad feeling from her, one she couldn't explain. Looking back to Alessia, she decided to open it. She kept her eyes on Alessia, opening it as slowly as she could so she didn't make a noise. 

At the top of the paper was the same symbol as on the seal. Below was a phrase, _"Silence, my brother"_ and a small map with a red X on it. Walking over to Alessia's pack, she pulled out her map and set it down on the stand. 

She hovered over the maps, trying to match the location on the paper to Alessia's. Serana quickly matched them, the map marked an area not that far from Falkreath. It was to the west, barely off the path from the city. 

She moved the paper off to the side, choosing to concern herself about it more when Alessia was awake. Looking back at the map, she spotted Markarth to the far west. She moved her finger up north, stopping as she placed her finger in the middle of a chain of mountains. Serana grabbed the quill and ink bottle that sat in front of her, making a circle around that area. 

Placing everything back where it was, Serana decided she should sleep a bit before they begin their travel. She laid down next to Alessia, placing her arm around her, quickly falling asleep to the sound of her even breaths. 

* * *

Serana opened one of her eyes, Alessia was smiling and playing with her hair. 

"Good morning." She felt Alessia kiss her forehead, she smiled and closed her eyes. 

Serana buried her head into the crook of Alessia's neck, placing light kisses there. She said something, but Alessia couldn't understand what she said. 

"What was that?" Serana moved her head away and looked at Alessia. 

"I asked if you were thinking normally now." 

"Yeah I'm good. Everything that happened after I opened that first Scroll is a blur. I don't remember getting here really." Alessia looked into Serana's eyes and saw a tear fall. "What's wrong?" 

"I thought I was going to lose you. After you read them you weren't yourself. You could barely think of what Markarth was called after you read them." 

"Did I tell you what I saw?" Alessia kissed the tear from Serana's cheek as it fell. 

"You saw a map. It showed a location north of Markarth. That's where the bow is." Alessia sat up and stretched as she looked around the room. Her attention turned to the paper that was sitting on the stand, causing her to get up and walk to it. 

"Where did you get this?" Serana stood up, she sounded angry. 

"This woman in black and red armor said it was for you. She told me to give it to you." She itched the back of her neck as she slowly walked up to Alessia. "I didn't know who she was, she didn't say." 

"Did she hurt you, or try to?" Serana shook her head no in confusion. 

"Who is she?" 

"I don't know who the exact person is but I know who she's with. The Dark Brotherhood." Serana still had a confused look on her face, wanting more of an explanation. "They're a group of assassins. Highly trained killers." 

"Why would they be interested in you?" Alessia laughed and folded up the paper. 

"They put a map on here, so maybe they want me to join. Or someone wants me dead." Alessia laughed silently to herself again. "I don't know who would want me dead." 

"I would say my father but he would probably enjoy it more if he did it himself." 

"I wouldn't allow him the pleasure of doing that." Serana couldn't help but laugh, knowing that she also would never allow him to hurt her. "So we are heading to Markarth?" 

"Not dressed like that I hope." Alessia looked down at her night gown, not remembering when she put it on. 

She rolled her eyes and grabbed her armor, quickly putting it on. She then grabbed her sword and quiver buckling them onto her and then slung her bow across her back. Alessia looked back over to Serana, seeing her biting her lip. 

"If you bite to hard you might bleed." 

"Well don't change in front of me." Alessia laughed and walked over to her, placing her hands on her hips. She smirked before leaning in, leaving a small space between their lips. Serana quickly closed the space, but Alessia pulled away. 

"You're being a tease." Alessia smirked and kissed Serana on the cheek, then walked out of the room. 

Serana followed her outside, quickly pulling her hood up as she felt the sun burning down on her. She saw Alessia leaning against one of the wooden railing along the inn. She was still smirking as Serana walked up to her. 

"I don't like teases." Alessia laughed as Serana wrapped her arms around her. 

"I'm really concerned about what you are going to do." Serana narrowed her eyes as she heard the sarcasm in her voice. "What are you gonna do?" 

Serana shrugged her shoulders with a smile on her face and walked away from the inn. She stopped and looked back to Alessia, still standing in the same place. 

"Let me guess, you don't know how to get to Markarth." 

"Uhh, that way?" Serana pointed in the direction from which they came, not that Alessia would remember that much. 

"Nope." Alessia walked from the inn and past Serana in the opposite direction that she pointed to. Serana followed behind her in silence as they began another one of their silent trips. 

* * *

Markarth wasn't what Serana expected it to be. It looked like they were walking right into another Dwemer ruin. As soon as they entered the city there was already chaos. A man walked up to a woman at a market stall and attacked her. 

Alessia quickly led Serana into the inn as the guards began asking around about what happened. Knowing that vampires have been attacking cities, she wasn't going to take time and talk to guards. 

"Is that a normal thing that happens in cities?" Serana laid down on the bed as soon as they entered the room they rented. 

"I've only heard of Forsworn attacks in the Reach." 

"Forsworn?" Serana watched Alessia as she took her weapons and placed them on the table in the room and moved to sit in one of the chairs. 

"People who say that the Reach belongs to them and that." 

"Very descriptive." 

"I never really paid attention to them since I barely come to Markarth. I tended to stay in Whiterun or Riften. Occasionally I would go out and explore." Alessia yawned and slouched in the chair once she finished speaking. 

"The bed is probably more comfortable than that chair." Alessia looked over to Serana that was patting the empty space that was next to her. 

"I'm good here, I wasn't planning on sleeping just yet." Serana got up from the bed and walked over to Alessia and sat on her lap. 

"Okay." Alessia wrapped her arms around Serana as she leaned her head on Alessia's shoulder. "I'm glad you're okay. I don't know what I'd do if you stayed like you did after you read those stupid Scrolls." 

"You'd be there for me still, right?" 

"I would because I..." Serana couldn't finish her sentence, she wanted to, but she wasn't sure how Alessia would react. 

"You what?" 

"Nothing. I will always be there for you." Alessia could tell that wasn't what she really wanted to say. 

"You can tell me anything. That's not what you were going to say." 

"I know." 

"Please tell me." Serana looked into Alessia's pleading eyes and sighed. 

"I love you," Serana whispered, barely heard by Alessia. 

"Can you say that again?" Serana saw Alessia smiling at her before she hid her face in her neck. 

"You heard what I said." 

Serana felt herself being moved so she was facing Alessia. The next thing she knew she was being lifted and Alessia was walking them over to the bed. She felt her back hit the bed as Alessia hovered over her, still smiling. 

It wasn't much longer before Alessia kissed Serana passionately. Serana began taking off Alessia's armor, of course she had to wear the one without the buckles. Alessia helped her as she notice her not making much progress in removing it. Serana switched their positions and began removing her clothing, Alessia laid back and watched her, eyes full of lust. 

Serana began trailing kisses along Alessia's jaw and neck, stopping as she heard Alessia let out a moan. She smirked, kissing Alessia on the lips before she sat up. 

"What are you doing?" Alessia watched as Serana moved from on top of her and laid next to her on the bed. 

"I'm tired." 

"Don't be a tease." Serana laughed as she heard Alessia whine. Alessia then began kissing her along her jawline, but Serana didn't do anything. 

"Are you sorry for teasing me earlier?" Alessia quickly nodded and pulled Serana on top of her. 

Serana kissed Alessia, slowly moving her hand down her stomach, stopping above her waist. She moved down, kissing the scars that were all along her stomach. She stopped once she got to the one from when they first met, tracing it with her finger before kissing it. 

She looked up to Alessia as she hooked her fingers around her pants, getting a nod in approval. Serana removed them and trailed kisses on Alessia's thighs, stopping when Alessia leaned up and lightly kissed her on the lips. 

"I love you too."


	16. Chapter 16

Darkfall Cave was well, dark. If nether of them were vampires they would be struggling to see what was directly in front of them. The path was barely lit by the torches that occasionally appeared on the walls of the cave. 

The first sound Alessia heard was the sound of running water. Walking further, there was a waterfall flowing through to their left. It was coming from the roof, falling through a hole in the floor. Further down was a wooden bridge, barely holding up. 

"I hope you don't plan on crossing that." Serana lightly placed her foot on the first wood plank on the bridge, causing it to make a noise as if it would break at any moment. 

"Do you have an idea on how to get over there then?" Alessia looked down and saw a fast flowing river below the bridge. 

"It doesn't even look like anything is over there." Alessia looked across, she could only make out what looked to be a rock. 

"Maybe I was wrong about what I saw. Or you heard me wrong." 

"We won't know until we go across. You can go first." Alessia looked down at the bridge, then down to the water below. She carefully placed a foot on the bridge, it creaked as she placed her full weight onto it. 

"Serana I swear if I die by crossing this bridge I will find a way to haunt you or whatever." 

"You're ridiculous." Serana walked onto the bridge, making it creak more than Alessia liked. 

Just as Serana passed her there was a cracking sound, causing Alessia to grab her arm. She lost her grip as she felt herself falling. The next thing she noticed was that something hit her back, something hard. 

Opening her eyes, she realized large rocks moving past her, most almost hitting her. She moved herself so her back was to the rocks, trying to look for Serana. She couldn't see her, she only saw more rocks. Alessia began panicking, but her thoughts stopped as she hit another rock. 

A few moments later she was able to catch her breath, but not for long as she hit more water. This time she couldn't see any rocks, hoping that there were no more. The current continued to pull her as she tried again to look for Serana, no luck. 

Thousands of thoughts were running through her mind. She looked behind her to where the current was taking her, lungs burning for more air. She felt nothing around her suddenly, and she gasped for air. 

Alessia hit something hard, her arm and shoulder began screaming in pain. She groaned and moved her other hand to her shoulder, feeling something wet. Trying her best to sit up, she ignored the wetness, figuring it was just water. 

She looked up as she heard a splash in the shallow water, quickly meeting fiery eyes. Alessia smiled and waved to Serana as she propped herself up and slowly walked over to her. 

"Don't look at me like that." Serana had an angry look on her face while Alessia was still smiling at her. Her eyes quickly moved to Alessia's shoulder that she was holding onto. "You're bleeding." 

Alessia moved her hand and saw it was covered in blood, and it was running down her arm and back. 

"Good think there's water her to wash it off right?" Alessia laughed and stood up, walking to where the water was falling from above. Serana walked up to her, looking at her shoulder and grimacing. 

"You just had to land on the sharpest rocks." Serana moved Alessia's arm cause her to yell in pain. 

"I think it's broken." 

"Don't be so dramatic." 

"I'm not. It hurts really bad and I can't move it." Alessia turned to Serana and was about to say something but stopped, pulling her sword out with her good arm. Serana turned around and saw someone approaching them, and she pulled out her dagger. 

"I apologize for interrupting, but I overheard you talking. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Knight-Paladin Gelebor." Alessia and Serana lowered their weapons, still keeping them in hand. 

"You're a Snow Elf?" Serana looked at him in shock, while Alessia looked at her in confusion. 

"Yes, I'm one of the last. Most of my kind is now what call the Falmer, but I call them the Betrayed." 

"Why aren't you one of them?" Serana shot her a glare once she finished speaking. "Sorry I didn't mean to offend you." 

"No apology needed. I'm not important right now, you two are though. You two are here for Auriel's Bow. Behind me is the Great Chantry of Auri-El. Please, follow me." They followed him to a well lit area and what looked to be a shrine. 

"Do you have the bow?" Alessia sat down in a chair, causing Serana to roll her eyes. 

"No I don't. I know how you can get to it though. Before I tell you how to get it I need to ask a favor of you two." 

"What do you need?" Gelebor sighed before turning to Serana. 

"My brother, Arch-Curate Vyrthur, I need you to kill him." Alessia was to busy trying to move her arm to pay attention to him, but Serana narrowed her eyes at him after he spoke. 

"Your brother? Why?" 

"Something happened to him, he's not himself. I believe the Betrayed corrupted him." 

"If that's what you want us to do we will do it. Where is the bow then?" 

"The bow should be wherever he is. To get to him you will have to pass through Wayshrines like the one behind me. There a four other ones you will have to find." 

"I have a question." Serana turned around and looked to Alessia who was still holding onto her arm. 

"Yes?" 

"So all we have to do is kill your brother and we get the bow?" Gelebor nodded and then walked over to a table that had some type of jug on it. 

"Once you reach the Wayshrines, fill this ewer with the water that is there. Once you reach where my brother is it will allow you access to him." Serana walked over and took the ewer. 

"We should get going then." Alessia stood up as they walked over to the first Wayshrine. It opened up as they approached it, showing a basin with water in it. On one of the walls of the Wayshrine was what appeared to be a portal. 

Serana dipped the Ewer into the water, then looked to Alessia before passing through the portal. Alessia followed behind her, letting out a long breath as she opened her eyes. 

They were still in a dark cave. The only light that was given off was from some pink and purple flowers. Serana approached a small group of those flowers but they went away as she got close, leaving the area dark. 

"I need something to wrap my arm in." Serana turned and saw Alessia leaning against the wall of the cave. 

"You won't be able to fight." Serana pulled out a large cloth from her bag, tying it around Alessia so it held her arm in place. 

"I'm not all bow and arrows, I have a sword. But I have you though and you can handle yourself plus one." 

"Let's just go and get this over with, I have bad feelings about this place." 

As they began walking, it was peaceful, watching the bright flowers disappear as they walked by. Occasionally they passed a small pool of water. But nothing was harming them, yet. 

Alessia suddenly stopped a few moments later, looking up the cave wall to her left. There was a hole in that wall, one Falmer used to pass through. She walked up so she was below it, picking up a small rock and unsheathing her sword. She motioned to Serana to move out of sight, then threw the rock up the edge of the hole. 

She stood completely still, a light scratching was heard above her. Serana held in a gasp as a Falmer dropped down right in front of Alessia. Before Serana could do anything the Falmer fell limp, Alessia's sword piercing through its back.

"And you said I wouldn't be able to fight." 

"Excuse me for making a wrong assumption." Alessia chuckled as Serana rolled her eyes. 

"I bet that if there are more Falmer in here I'll be able to kill more than you. I'm already winning with one." Alessia smirked as she challenged Serana.

"Okay. What happens to whoever loses?" 

"Winner can decide once we get out of here." Serana smirked and held out here hand which Alessia shook before walking off. 

* * *

"Your sword arm must be pretty weak, I mean only 15 Falmer, I'm disappointed." Alessia glared at Serana as they sat against the cave walls. 

"I don't have the ability to shoot ice spikes from my hands. If I had my bow I would have got them all." 

"I believe I won though, but I'm not telling you what I've decided on until your arm is better." Serana stood up and held a hand out for Alessia. 

"Next time I'll win." Alessia took her hand and stood up. She stepped around the corner and stopped, looking back to Serana. "Come see this." 

Serana walked over to Alessia, taking a quick look around and smiling. "It's beautiful. Reminds me of where we got the last Scroll, sort of." 

More of the glowing mushrooms were scattered around the area. Bright and colorful plants were also scattered around. Deer ran around the small paths that went over the water and on the edge of the pool of water. 

"I think there is one of those Wayshrines over there." Serana looked to where Alessia pointed and saw a small dome shape coming from the ground. 

Neither of them said a word as they walked down the path to the Wayshrine. Mostly admiring the scenery of the place, it was easier this time since they weren't sneaking around past Falmer. A ghost of a man welcomed them as they approached, allowing them to fill the Ewer with water and walk through another portal. 

The portal led them outside, into what seemed to be some type of valley. Deer were still running around in the snow and over the rocks. They walked down what seemed to be a path, looking around for more of the Wayshrines. 

Two more Wayshrines were quickly found and the Ewer was filled with more water. The path led them up to a large frozen lake. Alessia walked to the ice, tapping her sword against it lightly then her foot. 

"It's thin. I don't want to go for another swim, especially not in this cold." She looked back at Serana, she was looking off in the distance like she didn't hear a word Alessia said. 

"We have a bigger problem then thin ice, two actually." Alessia gave her a confused look then heard what she saw, wings beating in the air across the lake. She looked over, two dragons were making their way over to them, and quickly. 

One of the dragons continued making its way over to them, the other dove into the water, appearing a few moments later closer to them. Serana quickly began unleashing ice spikes and lightning bolts at the dragons. Alessia stayed behind her, unsure of what to do since she couldn't use her bow. She then remembered what she was given upon her first visit to the Dawnguard. 

She found the crossbow in her pack along with some bolts. It wasn't many but it was better than nothing. Aiming at a dragon, she shot the crossbow, cursing when she missed. The dragon was hit with an ice spike in the eye, causing it to dive through the ice. 

"Should we make a run for it and hope the Wayshrine up there has a portal?" Serana continued to hit the dragons while Alessia failed at getting close with the crossbow. 

"If you can bring one down that would be perfect, but they keep going into the water." Alessia smiled as she was finally able to hit one of the dragons. 

"You're not jumping on one of those with only one working arm." 

"Just ruin my day again. First you beat me in our little competition and then deny me the pleasure of killing a dragon." Alessia dropped the crossbow and unsheathed her sword, tossing it to the ground next to Serana. "Today is your lucky day I guess." 

Serana managed to get one of the dragons on the ground, then picked up Alessia's sword and ran as fast as she could over to it. Somehow, Alessia managed to distract both of the dragons, allowing her to jump on top of one and pierce the sword through the back of its head. 

By the time she got the sword from it and jumped down, the other dragon was walking over towards Alessia. Serana did the same to the other dragon, then made her way back to Alessia. 

Once she got to Alessia a smirk appeared on her face, making Alessia give her a confused look. 

"I think I did that better than you did." She put the sword back in the sheathe on Alessia's waist, leaving her hand stay there for a few moments. 

"Yeah but you can't absorb its soul can you?" Serana only rolled her eyes and followed Alessia across the ice. 

They reached another Wayshrine without any other distractions. Alessia only stopped a few moments since there was a word wall near the frozen lake. The man at the Wayshrine warned them about the dangers that follow, meaning a lot of Falmer, and that the next Wayshrine was a long distance away. 

Sneaking past the large groups of Falmer didn't work. They all lived in small villages consisting of many traps and small spaces that they came from trying to sneak up on them. They also had to go through a cave made from glaciers and climb through mountains on bridges made by no other than the Falmer.

They reached the last Wayshrine in what seemed like hours later. Serana and Alessia both let out a sigh of relief as they reached what was called the Inner Sanctum. It looked like another large castle to Alessia. 

"I think the water goes in this." Serana walked up the stairs leading to the entrance. In front of her was an empty basin in which she poured the water into. 

Behind them a door opened up. They quickly walked inside hoping to escape the cold. The inside was cold, more than it was on the outside. 

"This doesn't look good." Alessia walked over to what they were greeted by, a frozen Falmer and many more behind it. 

They walked around all of the frozen creatures cautiously as if they weren't frozen. Alessia was about to touch one but Serana's hand stopped her, shaking her head not to do it. 

Walking into the following room, more frozen Falmer and Choruses were scattered around the room. Serana was only thinking of what could have happened to freeze everything here, and who or what did it. 

They reached a dead end, frozen Falmer lining the room along with large shards of ice. Crumbling pillars laid around. Alessia looked up and saw large spears of ice hanging from the roof. Across the room there were stairs, and a someone sitting in what looked like a throne. 

"Ah! Wonderful, I predicted everything right. I'm so glad you brought your companion with you." Alessia was startled as she heard the man speak, her and Serana slowly walked forward. 

"Serana stay back." Alessia protectively stood in front of Serana, keeping her good arm stretched out to her. 

"You can't protect her from me. When you took your first steps into here, her fate was also set in place. Along with yours." Behind them, the frozen Falmer came to life. They didn't last as long as normal Falmer did, but they continued to come to life. 

Alessia figured by now that he was Knight-Paladin Gelebor's brother, Vyrthur. He sat patiently in his throne as the Falmer continued to attack. He finally spoke after the last moving Falmer fell to Alessia's sword. 

"I'm impressed, but you have done nothing. Only extended your lives by mere minutes." 

The roof of the ceiling began falling down in pieces. Both doing their best to avoid being hit. More and more Falmer came to life to attack them. Serana did her best to stay close to Alessia, but the large numbers of Falmer caused them to move further apart. 

As the last Falmer fell again, Serana looked across the room to Alessia. She wasn't in great shape, blood was coming from small scratches across her body. The cloth holding up her arm was no longer there. 

"I won't let you ruin centuries of preparations." Serana turned to Vyrthur as he stood from his throne, a bright light streamed all around them. 

A large bang was heard, the light was blinding so Serana was unable to see what happened. The sound of crashing was all she could hear. 

The faded, Serana looked around the room, large pieces of the ceiling laid around them. The wall behind the throne was no longer there, but a great balcony looking out over the mountains was in sight. She began to panick, Alessia was not where she was standing earlier, but there was a large pile of rubble there. 

Serana quickly ran over to the pile. After moving a few small pieces, she was able to find Alessia. Her lower body was trapped under two large pieces of the ceiling that she wouldn't be able to move on her own. 

"Serana?" Alessia reached her arm out to Serana. 

"I'm here, don't worry I'll get you out." She grabbed Alessia's hand in her own, using her other to cup Alessia's cheek. 

"Serana, get the bow, worry about me after you have it, please." Serana felt tears welling up in her eyes, Alessia was struggling to speak. 

"You come first, no matter what." 

"Serana can you do something for me?" 

"What is it?" 

"Kiss me." Serana didn't hesitate and kissed Alessia, causing the tears to fall down faster. "Know that I love you, I always have. Get the bow... take care of your father. Don't... forget about me." 

"Don't do this to me. Stay strong. You aren't leaving okay? I'm going to save you like I did when we first met." Alessia weakly nodded, Serana gave her one last kiss before walking off. 

Serana stormed angrily to the balcony. Vyrthur was standing there, haunched over and leaning against the railing. 

"You deserve to die in the worst plane of Oblivion for what you've done." Serana quickly grabbed the collar of his apparel, pushing him against the railing. 

"Creating the prophecy or killing your companion? She won't survive that, and you left her there to die faster. Look at me Serana, you know what I am." Serana looked into his eyes, bright orange eyes the same as hers stared right back at her. 

"I don't care what you are. You ruined my family firstly. Then you hurt Alessia, she is the only one I love and care for." She moved one hand from his collar, grabbing her dagger then placing the blade against his throat. 

"Do it, it won't change anything. Your family will still be in ruins and your love will be dead. She already is probably." Serana didn't hesitate, she took her dagger and slit his throat. He instantly fell limp to the ground. 

She closed her eyes, tears quickly escaping her eyes as she fell to her knees. She felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up she saw Gelebor. He weakly smiled at her as he helped her up. 

"The bow is over here." She following him slowly, not daring to look at where Alessia is laying. 

"The Betrayed, it wasn't them. He was a vampire. He was controlling them." Serana didn't look up to Gelebor, keeping her eyes on her feet. 

"I see. Thank you. Your friend, I apologize about what happened to her. I'm sorry my brother did that." She couldn't help but let more tears fall, finally looking up at Gelebor. 

"I told her I would save her, but I couldn't." Serana sat down on the stairs of the Wayshrine, putting her head in her hands. "She told me she loves me before I left, but I didn't tell her I love her." 

"I'm sure she knows you love her." Serana looked to her right as she heard something being placed next to her, a quiver full of arrows. 

"What are those?" 

"Sunhallowed Arrows, for Auriel's Bow." She picked up the arrows, placing the quiver around her. "The bow is in the Wayshrine. The portal will take you to the entrance of the cave. Stay safe, Serana." 

Serana slowly stood up as Gelebor disappeared from her sight. She turned around and saw the bow in the Wayshrine. It upset her, she wasn't one to use a bow. Alessia would have loved to use it. She grabbed it and turned back to where she last saw Alessia, the last place she would ever see her. 

"I won't forget about you, Alessia. I'm sorry and I love you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie I got emotional while writing the end of this.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The parts of mostly dialogue and that do not have Serana present take place at random times and do not follow at same time where Serana is involved.

_Three Weeks Later_

Feed, Practice, Sleep. 

Serana only fed when the thirst got to much to handle. It was the only time she left the city, Whiterun. She had been staying in Alessia's home, but she was only there when she slept. 

She could always be found outside Jorrvaskr. Her days were spent there practicing using a bow and arrows she found around the house. Auriel's Bow was kept secured so nobody could get to it. 

Many nights from the week she was crying to sleep. Then she was usually woken up from a dream of where she last saw her. Sleep was her new enemy, not her father or his followers. 

Serana was currently outside of Jorrvaskr practicing like always. Nobody ever bothered her much, occasionally someone asked if she needed anything but she always declined. One of the Companions, Aela, was willing to help her. 

She only accepted the first day, only to figure out how to hold the bow properly and how to aim. The rest she wanted to do on her own. 

Serana just shot the last arrow from the quiver when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw Lydia with two bottles. 

"You've been out here all day, you probably need this." Serana ignored her, walking to the practice target to retrieve her arrows. "Are you okay?" 

"What do you care, you've wanted me out of here since I first showed up." 

"I'm just trying to be a nice person. Something is wrong. All you do is stay here and then you go for a few hours and then you're back." Lydia set the bottles down on a table and sat down. "You could at least be thankful that I convinced everyone to let you use the targets." 

"I'll be back tomorrow morning." Serana began walking away but Lydia's voice stopped her. 

"I haven't seen Alessia since you've been back." 

"I know." Her voice was almost a whisper as she continued walking. 

She walked into the home, immediately going up to the bedroom. She quickly changed and laid down on the bed. Serana was quickly able to fall asleep unlike most nights, but she didn't sleep much the previous night. 

* * *

"They walked right past here. I don't think she intends on coming." 

"Do you know where they are going?" 

"I overheard them talking about Markarth. My guess is that they will be going there." 

"Go to Markarth and make sure the Dragonborn comes back here alive and unharmed. Her friend, do what you have to but don't kill her." 

"Really, telling me not to kill anyone?" 

"There is no reason to. There's nothing on her currently." 

"I'll bring her back then. It might take some time though, it will be easier when she is alone and out of sight from the citizens." 

"Do it as fast as possible." 

* * *

Another dream, Serana knew nothing could stop them. She looked out the window and saw that it was still dark out. She must have only been asleep for a few hours. 

She got up and went to sit by the fire. No thoughts passed through her mind as she watched the flames flicker. A knock at the door brought her out of her trance, she got up and went to the door. 

Serana only rolled her eyes as she opened it allowing the person to walk inside. She took a quick look around, expecting some type of change but there wasn't any. 

"Can I help you?" Serana still stood by the door, arms crossed. 

"Yes you can. Where is she?" Serana leaned back against the door, a blank expression on her face. 

"The Chantry of Auriel." Lydia gave her a confused look and sat down in one of the chairs. 

"What is she doing there?" 

"We were there for Auriel's Bow. We got the bow. I came back." 

"Why didn't she come with you?" Serana snorted before walking away from the door. 

"You're full of questions." She sat down in the chair next to her. "She couldn't come back." Again, her voice was barely above a whisper. 

"I don't get it. Knowing her she would follow whoever she was protecting anywhere." 

"Yeah well you can't follow or protect anyone when you're dead." 

"How?" Serana heard Lydia's voice slightly crack as she spoke. 

"We were fighting this guy, very powerful. We were in this room and he made the ceiling crumble and large pieces of it fell down onto her." Serana felt the tears in her eyes as she continued. "She wasn't in great shape before that. Falmer were there and they caused many gashes on her. Also her arm was broken." 

"Please tell me you killed him." 

"I did. Before that, I found her and she was still alive, barely though. She told me to get the bow first and then help her. I shouldn't of listened to her." Serana felt an arm around her as more tears fell. 

"You're okay, it's fine." 

"No I'm not okay. Nothing is fine. She told me not to forget her but that's all I want to do right now." Serana's eyes fell to the ring Alessia gave her. She knew it was nothing more than protection but it felt like much more. 

Lydia's eyes fell to the ring as Serana began messing around with it. "Were you guys going to-" 

Serana quickly interrupted her. "No I don't do marriage." 

"Oh. I should probably go." Lydia stood up and opened the door, stopped as she was about to walk out and turned to Serana. "You should get some sleep, you look like you need it." 

Serana turned her attention back to the ring once the door was shut. She pulled it off and twirled it around between her fingers. She looked back at the fire, then back to the ring. She quickly tossed the ring into the fire, making the flames erupt but eventually dying down. 

"You won't be able to hear this but I'm saying it anyway." Serana stared at the fire, taking a deep breath. "I'll be completely honest right now, I hate you but somehow I still love you. The only reason I hate you is because you left. You were all I had left. I hate that you left me to do this on my own. I can barely shoot a bow so I don't know how you expect me to use it against my father. But I love you. You cared for me when no one else did. You were there for me when no one else was." 

Serana stopped, the tears that began to fall became to much. She leaned back in the chair, staring up to the ceiling. She felt weak, which she hasn't felt in awhile. Since she met Alessia she was anything but weak. 

"It's been 21 days. Every day I think of you. You wanted me to remember you, but it's hard to. I want to forget you because remembering you brings me to much pain. Yet, I just don't know how to forget you. I only knew you for about month but I spent every minute with you. It's to much to forget." 

* * *

"You're back without her." 

"They left Markarth and went into this cave. I followed them in until they fell off a bridge and into a rushing stream of water."

"You said you would bring her back." 

"I didn't think it would be this complicated to get her." 

"Why didn't you get her when she was in Markarth?" 

"Well her and the other vampire were, uh, you know." 

"You could have got her when they were done." 

"I wasn't going to capture her while she was nude along her vampire friend." 

"Go get the new one. Let's see if she is more useful than you." 

It was only moments before the new initiate showed up in the room. 

"You asked for me?" 

"Yes. I need you to go retrieve the Dragonborn for me." 

"Like the Dragonborn?" 

"Yes the Dragonborn who else would I be talking about?" 

"Sorry. I just thought you were joking." 

"This isn't a joke. She is not to be harmed at all. Her friend is to not be killed. Be aware they are both vampires also." 

"Where was she last seen?" 

"This cave, north of Markarth. Go now and don't come back without her." 

* * *

Serana hadn't moved from the chair the rest of the night. When light began to show through the windows she didn't make her usual trip to practice with the bow. She knew that in a day or two that she would have to feed. 

But she only thought, what was the point? She had lost everything, again. She hated to admit it but the only thing that got her through her first loss was the ritual. Sure, it was very degrading, but she was starting a new life. That life was soon ruined by her father.

When she met Alessia she thought her life would be better, and it was. She was crazy to think it would last forever once she turned her. Nothing ever lasted. 

Her father would eventually get to them, he did at first. They got away but she knew that they had to face him again. She always thought that would be the last time she saw Alessia, whether Alessia lived or not. 

Now she was going to face him alone. She planned it out, sort of. She would ask the Dawnguard to help even though she knew Isran hated her. He probably wouldn't want to miss attacking a castle full of vampires. She could handle her father alone, while the Dawnguard dealt with everyone else. 

Everything would work, mostly. The only thing that could possibly fail was her defeating her father. He was powerful, Molag Bal granted him the power for some reason. 

She would go to the Dawnguard in a week. That gave her another week to practice using a bow. She had to make every moment worth it. She had to make every shot worth it. 

* * *

"Here you go, your new prized possession." 

"She isn't a possession, she's new to our Family. You did good, but why are her hands tied up and why is she passed out?" 

"Well she's been like that since I found her. I think she's barely alive, if she even if I'm not sure how to check cause vampires are practically dead. I tied her hands up for my safety reasons." 

"Okay. What is of her friend?" 

"She wasn't there when I showed up. They were in the Chantry of Auriel. There was this guy there, I didn't ask for his name, he said that she was there but dead. Her friend had left a week ago, leaving her there." 

"How did you find her like this?" 

"She was under a large pile of rubble, only upper body was visible. It took some time but I moved the rubble and got her out." 

"Take her to one of the private rooms, keep her hands tied I guess. She probably won't appreciate being here. I'll get someone to look at her wounds and see if she's worth keeping." 

"Would you like me to stay there while you go get someone?" 

"Yes, please. Thank you for getting her, you did better than one I sent at first." 

The Dragonborn was moved into a large room with a large bed. There was enough room for two other people to lay in the bed with her. 

"I never imagined the Dragonborn to be Imperial, a pretty one at that. Welcome to your new home and Family I guess." 

"She's in here. Karissa found her like this, I figured you would know how to help her." 

"Well she's dead, vampire dead. She's barely alive I believe, and by barely I mean like she will need a lot of attention if she wants to be brought back to a state where she can fight." 

"Can you do it? I know vampires can't be healed by normal means." 

"We are going to need a bunch of blood. We have to get it into her system so she can heal. Being out of the sun won't do anything." 

"We better start getting blood then. Karissa, you can stay hear and watch over her since you were the one to find her. I will go get some people to start figuring out where to get the blood." 

* * *

_One_ _Week Later_

It took Serana a whole week to leave the house. She decided she would start her plan in two weeks. Her motivation wasn't there yet like she thought it was. She was lucky enough to find a few bottles of blood in the home as she searched around it. 

She was heading over to Jorrvaskr to continue her practicing. As she left she felt as if someone was watching her, but she turned and saw no one paying attention to her, as usual. 

While she was practicing she had that feeling the whole time, but still never saw anyone. It was throwing her off. Usually by now she was always hitting the target, but she was now missing once she felt that someone was watching. 

Once she no longer had that feeling all of her shots hit the target. They still weren't exactly center, but it would have to do. If she was lucky she would only need one shot to count for her to finish everything. But to her it wasn't likely. 

By the time it was getting dark she was heading back to Breezehome. Serana just couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching her. 

* * *

"Three barrels of blood?" 

"This better work because it was hard work to get all of this." 

"How will we get this into her system?" 

"One bottle every 20 minutes, feed it to her. Have fun." 

"Why me?" 

"Because I told you so. You better start, it might take forever and neither of us have that." 

Karissa rolled her eyes as the door shut and grabbed the bottle that sat on one of the barrels. She filled it with the blood and held it to the Dragonborn's mouth, slowly pouring the contents in. She was glad it didn't spill everywhere, she drank it so she took it as a good sign. 

"You're going to be a pain in my ass. Every twenty minutes. When you wake up you better be thankful that I did this." 

Karissa sat the bottle down next to her and took a good look around the room. It looked like most of the other private rooms she had been in briefly. She didn't have one to herself but shared with the other new initiates. 

She needed something to occupy her time, her eyes wondered to the bookshelf. She grabbed a random book and began reading, which she never did. She didn't think her time with her new Family would be spent reading and feeding a vampire. 

She was halfway through the book when she figured twenty minutes had passed. Grabbing the bottle she repeated what she had done, as boring as it was. She placed the bottle back to where it was, her back was facing the bed. 

There was a movement behind her, causing her to quickly turn, knocking into the bottle which broke as it hit the floor. Fiery orange eyes met her hazel ones. She slowly backed towards the door, not breaking their eye contact. 

"The three barrels wasn't necessary. One wasn't even necessary." Karissa hit the shut door, knowing someone would hear. Luckily it was the Family's leader that heard. 

"You know who to get, leave us please." Karissa nodded and shut the door behind her, leaving her and the Dragonborn alone. "I didn't expect to see you awake so soon." 

"Where am I?" 

"Patience Sister, we have things to discuss." A chair was pulled up next to the bed. "Alessia, right?" 

"Yes." She sat up in the bed, moving so she was leaning against the wall and away from the woman in front of her. 

"You are lucky Karissa was able to find you. She's the girl that was just in here with you. If I'm correct she's about your age." 

"Why should I care about any of this?" 

"You're a part of the Family now." Alessia glared at the woman, she had a smirk on her face as she looked back at her. 

"What did you do to Serana?" 

"We didn't do anything." Alessia rolled her eyes, feeling as if there was a lie. 

"She wouldn't allow me to be taken. She said she was coming back for me and would save me." 

"I'm sorry to say this but, she left you. A week before we found you she left you and didn't save you. We were the ones that saved you, not her." 

"I don't believe that." Alessia had never seen this woman in her life so she definitely wasn't going to trust her. 

"Then why were you here barely alive? Why did Karissa have to get you from the Chantry under a pile of rubble?" 

"It's not like her to leave me." 

"Well she did. We are the reason you are here right now, not her." The woman stood up and grabbed the dagger at her waist and moved towards Alessia, cutting the ropes from her wrist. "She didn't care for you, if she did you would be with her. I'm sorry if that upsets you. I'll make sure you are left alone if that's what you would like." 

"Karissa, she was the one in here when I woke?" The woman nodded to Alessia in response. "Could you send her in here?" 

"I will. My name is Astrid, leader of the Dark Brotherhood." 

"I know who you're with." Alessia watched as she left, not saying another word. She slowly stood up from the bed and looked down at her armor, it was torn up and covered in blood. 

She looked around the room, it looked like she was in the middle of a ruin by the looks of the walls but the place was decorated like a normal bedroom. There was a bookshelf and dresser. Multiple end tables were around the room and there was a large bed. The only think out of place were the three barrels of blood that had been attacking Alessia's nose since she woke up. 

She heard the door opening behind her as she looked at what was in the dresser. There was only Dark Brotherhood armor, most likely for her. She looked up and saw the woman from earlier, her eyes held some fear in them. 

"Astrid said you wanted to see me." Alessia motioned to the chair by the bed as she pulled up another one. 

"I know how this place works, you get a contract and you go handle it and get paid then come back here and wait for another. I need you to get me a contract that I can take care of as soon as possible." Karissa laughed as Alessia finished speaking. 

"I hope you aren't trying to use that as a way out. You can never leave the Brotherhood." 

"Can you get me one or not?" Karissa nodded and stood up from the chair, quickly leaving the room. 

Alessia walked over to the dresser again, pulling out the armor that was in it. She didn't have to think, knowing what she was doing. She put it on, everything but the hood. She threw her old armor into a pile at the corner of the room. 

She needed to find out what happened with Serana. Why she left her, and if she even cared about her anymore or at all. Alessia couldn't imagine Serana using her to defeat her father or worse, help him block out the sun. The only way she could find out was if she left this place as if she were handling a contract. 

She walked out of the room, looking at her surroundings. The place did look like an old ruin of sorts. She looked into the door across from her, a room with multiple beds in it. To her left she heard someone writing, she decided to go that way. 

She walked up a set of stairs before reaching the person who was writing, Astrid. She quickly looked up at Alessia from the other side of the table. She smiled once she noticed what she was wearing and walked up to her. 

"Welcome to the Family, Sister." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You've probably realized this but Karissa isn't a character in the actual game but she will be used in this story for some importance later on maybe.


	18. Chapter 18

Alessia has been in the Sanctuary for about three weeks, so far she has met a few other people there. She learned that a young girl who is also a vampire helped save her, she couldn't remember her name though. She wasn't much interested in making new friends and exploring her new home, so she mostly stayed around Astrid and Karissa.

The private room gave her plenty of time to think, her thoughts usually led to Serana. Wondering why she left her alone. The only positive outcome was that she most likely got the bow and was alive. 

Alessia was brought from her thoughts when she heard a knock on the door frame, Karissa was slowly walking in. "Astrid would like to speak with us." 

"Alright. I never got to thank you, for getting and saving me." Alessia walked out of the room following Karissa, they weren't heading to where Astrid was usually found.  

"I was just doing as I was told." They entered another bedroom, Astrid was sitting at a desk looking over two sheets of paper. "You wanted to see us?" 

"Yes I did. I have a set of contracts, for both of you." Astrid handed each of them a sheet of paper, five names with descriptions of their target on each. 

"You still have my weapons. I don't know how you expect me to do this without weapons." Alessia heard Karissa chuckle next to her as Astrid looked at her with an amused expression. 

"If you look at the locations, two of those are in Whiterun. I know you have a home there and I'm sure you have weapons there you can use. Karissa will be accompanying you." 

"Why?" Karissa sounded annoyed by this, like she would rather not spend time with anyone. 

"Because she is new here and I don't know if I can trust her. I trust you enough to make sure she does as told." 

"I've been here for three weeks and you can't trust me? Those are my best weapons and they cost a lot of money. You can take them once I get back, just let me use them for this." Astrid turned around and walked to a chest in the room, pulling out Alessia's weapons. She threw them onto the floor in front of them. 

"If you kill everyone on that list and come back with Karissa you can keep them. It will take me longer to trust you since you didn't want to be here at first." 

"I understand what you say about Ser- her now. She left me there to die and you have saved me from an actual death. I am thankful for that." Alessia picked up her weapons after speaking and turned to Karissa. 

"You ready?" Alessia only nodded, following Karissa out the door. 

"What was your first time doing this like?" Karissa sensed the tone of nervousness in Alessia's voice as they exited the Santuary, both of them pulling their hoods up and hiding their faces. 

"I was nervous I guess. Mostly by the thought of what I would do if someone saw me and I got caught. Luckily my first kill lived alone so I just had to wait until he was inside and alone. The ones we have now aren't like that and won't be simple." 

The pair began walking towards Whiterun, to Alessia's luck it was still dark outside and most likely will be until they reach Whiterun. Usually silent trips didn't bother her but this time it did. She wanted to know about who she was traveling with. 

All she knew about Karissa that she was a year younger than her. She lived in Skyrim since she was five, and she was an Imperial. She was also very secretive about herself, most of the time. Also quiet unless someone decided to annoy her. 

Alessia heard the yelling at least once a day, it was usually over something foolish. Karissa yelled at someone for a moment and you couldn't hear her for the rest of the day. 

Alessia was glad to be back in the familiar city of Whiterun, even if it was for something she might regret. Everyday the regret began to dwindle down. She knew that sooner or later that the regret won't be there at all. Most of those in the Brotherhood lost the regret after their first kill, from what she's heard. 

"You look a bit uneasy. Are you okay?" Karissa noticed how Alessia looked around the city, stopping as soon as they entered. Her stare mostly stayed over towards one building. 

"Uh yeah I'm okay I guess." Alessia's eyes stayed on Breezehome as she walked up to Karissa, but stopped once the door opened. "Serana?" 

Her voice was barely above a whisper as she picked up her pace and began walking towards her home, towards Serana. As she got closer she felt someone push her and pull her to the side of her home. 

"By Sithis what are you doing? You can't go mingling with people in the city or there might be suspicion." Alessia looked around the side and saw Serana walking out of her view. She pulled herself from Karissa's grasp, then going invisible. "Why are you holding my hand?" 

"Shut up I'm trying to concentrate." Alessia closed her eyes for a moment, then looked back and smiled as she saw Karissa was also invisible now. 

"I can be sneaky on my own I don't need your help." Karissa yanked her hand from Alessia's, causing her to appear next to her. "Who was that?" 

"She was the one that I went to the cave with. We are... were together." 

"You just want to see if she's okay?" Alessia nodded and walked to the door of her home. "We can go see if she's okay, only for a moment. No speaking to her." 

"How am I suppose to know if she's okay then?" Karissa only shrugged her shoulders. Alessia started walking off in the direction that Serana went. 

"What would she be doing at Jorrvaskr?" Alessia walked up the path to Skyforge, an easy place to hide because of the rocks. 

"I don't know." Alessia looked over the rock she was behind and quickly ducked behind it. "She has my good bow, I was going to get it." 

"I thought that was your good bow." 

"This is my expensive bow. Keep your voice down, she is a vampire too." Karissa rolled her eyes and watched her, shooting the arrows at the target yards in front of her. 

"I thought you left, I haven't seen you in a week." Alessia perked her head up again, searching for the familiar voice. She saw Lydia exiting Jorrvaskr and walking towards Serana. 

"I'm not leaving yet. I was going to this week but I've decided that I will in two weeks. I have to stop my father before he gets to me first." Alessia was about to stand up a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She looked over to Karissa and pulled down the mask that covered everything below her eyes. Karissa noticed the concerned look on her face. 

"Don't concern about her. Concern about what we have to do tonight. We should go, start looking for the easiest way to do our job. The only ones in Whiterun are the two on your list." Alessia took one last look to Serana and Lydia before following Karissa down to the market area of Whiterun. 

It was easy for them to stay out of sight from most people there since it was crowded. Karissa pointed out their two targets, both men, older than them both. They watched them throughout the day, acting as part of the crowd by occasionally looking at a market stall or entering a store for a few short moments.

By evening Alessia's nervousness went down, they began to follow the men to their homes. The men walked into the same home in the back corner of where most of the homes were. Alessia turned to Karissa as they reached the door. 

"Go on in, I'll keep watch." She leaned against the door as Alessia quickly unlocked the front door but didn't enter. 

"So just go in and do it?" There was a slight smirk on Karissa's face that Alessia couldn't see. 

"Just go in and get it over with. I'm not going to hold your hand through it." Alessia glared at her as she slowly entered the home and quickly using her advantage of invisibility. 

Both of the men were sitting in chairs in front of the fire talking, she didn't care to listen to what they were talking about. She had an easy shot to make if she used her bow and was fast enough to get both men without the second trying to look for her. 

She readied an arrow as she stood close to the door, easy escape if nothing worked. The arrow quickly left her bow, her second was ready before anyone could react. Both arrows got both men in the heart. She went to go retrieve her arrows, going into sight. Before she could get them there was an urgent knock on the door. 

"Sister, there are guards coming." Alessia took that as her time to leave, she quickly walked out of the home and saw Karissa already running from the home. She quickly caught up to her. 

Not paying attention, they both turned a corner. Alessia ran into someone, both fell. She looked to her side, pausing as she faced her. Their fiery eyes met again, but she could tell by the look on Serana's face that she didn't recognize her.

Alessia was unable to move from where she was laying. Serana stood up, looking down at her like she expected an apology or something. 

"Come before your ass gets thrown in the dungeon." Alessia was quickly brought back to the realization that guards may have saw them. Karissa pulled her up by her arm and they continued running out the city. 

They continued running until they were near a giant camp and out of sight from the city guards that stood outside the walls. Alessia watched as Karissa angrily paced in front of her. 

"What was that? You could have got us both caught!" Alessia said nothing, Karissa walked towards her, pushing her against a tree. "Do you want to do this?" 

"If you're asking about being a part of this, yes I do. As far as what happened back there, I don't know what happened. She didn't recognize me." 

"She didn't recognize you because all you can see are your eyes basically. All vampires have those same eyes. If you want to do this, you can't do that every time you run into her or someone you know that thinks you're dead. You need a figure out a way to forget about her so she doesn't distract your thoughts." Alessia sat down against the tree, putting her head in her heads. 

"She's all that I've been think about since you guys saved me. It's not as easy just telling me to forget her." Alessia pulled off her mask and hood, leaning her head against the tree. 

It was silent other than the noise of Karissa walking around and getting firewood. She eventually sat down next to Alessia once the fire was started. 

"Did you really mean it what you said to Astrid, that you understand what she said about her?" Alessia thought for a moment before looking to Karissa. 

"I mean, it makes sense what she said. When we last spoke I wasn't dead and I told her to get what she needed then to come back to me. I know she got what she needed by what she was doing at Jorrvaskr. What I don't get is that when we first met and she had no idea who I was, she saved my life without hesitation. But then she just leaves me when she said she would save me. So yeah, I did mean it." 

"If I were you, I would believe Astrid. I don't know you before or what the relationship between you two was like, but if someone actually loved me I would believe that they would save me. If I loved someone I would save them." 

Alessia said nothing, she stared down at the ring she made for herself and a similar one for Serana. She noticed that when they ran into each other, she wasn't wearing it. It had upset her. 

Maybe Astrid was right. Maybe Serana never cared, only using her to defeat her father. 

* * *

Serana was heading back to Breezehome as there was a commotion over where the other homes were. She had to stop at the local store to get some things she needed for the home. 

As she was walking on one of the roads she felt someone hit her from behind, causing them both to fall. The person was wearing the same black and red leather armor as the woman she encountered in Falkreath. Except this time the person had the eyes of a vampire. 

Serana stood before the other person. They stayed on the ground staring at her, maybe looking for the right words to apologize. The person's eyes glanced down at her hand and then back up to her eyes. Before she said something another person in similar armor quickly approached. 

"Come before your ass gets thrown in the dungeon." The woman grabbed the one from the ground, they continued to run towards the city doors. 

"Ma'am, are you okay?" Serana turned around and saw a guard behind her, most likely he saw her get hit and fall. 

"Yes I'm fine. Who are they?" The guard stepped closer to her before answering. 

"Assassins, the Dark Brotherhood. They serve the Dread Father, Sithis." Serana nodded, these were the people who were trying to get Alessia to join them. 

"I should go." The guard turned away without a word. 

Serana watched as he walked away, she then made her way back to Jorrvaskr. Once she reached there, she walked in without hesitation, even though she knew they wouldn't enjoy the presence of a vampire in their hall. She quickly scanned the room, her eyes landed on Lydia. She began walked to her but was stopped. 

"You're not welcome in here. Only to use those targets outside." Serana looked and saw Aela, her hand on Serana's shoulder, keeping her in place. 

"I need to speak with Lydia, it's urgent." 

"You'll have to speak with her when she isn't inside. Like I said, you may only use out targets outside. Some wouldn't appreciate if a vampire was in here." Serana shook her head in response and walked out of Jorrvaskr, heading back to Breezehome. 

Once she made it inside she quickly went to the bookshelf, searching for a book with anything on the Dark Brotherhood. There was nothing. She figured that they were a secretive group, not wanting anyone to know about how they work and run things. 

Serana was unsure why she was doing this. Alessia was dead, the Dark Brotherhood doesn't have her. If she was alive she would be with Serana right now, planning how to defeat her father. 

* * *

"Alessia. Alessia, wake up." Alessia jolted awake, she felt a hand on her shoulder, Karissa. "You were having a nightmare, I thought it would be good to wake you." 

"Thanks. I haven't had one in about two months. They started again about last week." Karissa didn't move her hand from Alessia's should as she stretched and yawned. 

"Do you want to talk about it? Sometimes it helps." Alessia looked over to her and nodded. 

"It was a more recent event. We were caught by two vampires, her father's advisors. They chained us up and and they tortured us, mostly me. This time, in the dream they were hurting her and killed her." Alessia let out a sigh and looked down at her feet. "That didn't really help, I don't know how it was suppose to." 

"I don't know either. Are you hungry? Wait don't answer that, I'd rather not know." Alessia couldn't help but laugh at Karissa. 

"Aw, you're not going to let me have a bite?" She laughed again once she saw Karissa's expression. 

"No I'm not. Lucky you we had three barrels of blood at home because of you so I brought some bottles of it with me." She pulled a bottle out of her pack and handed it to Alessia which she gladly accepted. "Is it better that way or straight from a person?"

"I've never had it straight from a person. Only like this. It tastes fine I guess, had to get use to it." Alessia quickly downed the drink, placing the bottle in her pack and then stood up. It was a nice day, other than the sun burning down on her. 

"We should get going. Still have eight more contracts to handle and I would like to have them done by the end of the week." 

"Where are we heading?" Alessia walked over to Karissa to look at the map she was holding. It had many markings on it, most of which were illeligible. 

"We both have one in Riften so we can head that way and then to Windhelm for one of mine." She put her map away and then pulled out a journal. "I almost forgot to give this to you." 

"What's this?" The journal had a hand on it, symbol of the Dark Brotherhood. The inside was all blank pages, except the first that had two names on it. 

"Most of us keep a journal of those we have assassinated. It's yours, I wrote your first two in there last night after you fell asleep." 

"Am I suppose to say thank you?" Alessia put the journal into her pack before they began walking. 

"You don't have to. It's a gift from me I guess you can say. You know, you are one of the few people I like from home." 

"Why is that?" 

"Shockingly, it's easy for me to talk to you sort of. I'm not much of a talker. You also keep to yourself and don't pay attention to the other's business." Alessia laughed at the last reason. 

"From my room I can hear a lot that goes on there. Being a vampire has its perks, one being incredible hearing. So I do hear a lot of people's business. Like I always hear you yelling at someone that you share a room with at least once a day." Karissa's face blushed as she looked to Alessia. 

"I don't like when people go near or touch my things." 

"That's not all I hear. One time you were complaining because Festus wanted you to go find a nice young man, marry him, and bring him to join our Family." Karissa's face got an even darker red as Alessia spoke, chuckling once she was done. 

"Don't tell him about that, he wouldn't be to pleased. I better watch what I say in there now, you and Babette will be talking about everything you guys hear behind our backs." Babette, that was the girl's name, Alessia was unable to remember some since they all introduced themselves at the same time. 

"Oh please, we already do." Alessia laughed as she saw Karissa scowling at her. "I'm kidding. It's not my business to talk about." 

"Then why are you talking about mine?" 

"I'm saying your business to you, and besides, you're the one that brought it up." 

"Have you heard any that involved me?" Alessia thought for a moment before looking over to Karissa. 

"No I haven't. You room with some new initiates, I'm sure there has to be something said about me, correct?" Karissa nodded, a smirk on her face. She stopped and leaned to Alessia so she was whispering into her ear, as if they were in front of people. 

"Two of the new men, Nords, they said they would love to spend a night with you." Alessia laughed, turning so she could whisper into Karissa's ear. 

"I only spend my nights with pretty women." Alessia moved back, a slight blush apparent on Karissa's face again.

"Would any of those pretty women be within our Family?" Alessia smirked, beginning to walk away before turning back to Karissa. 

"Maybe." 


	19. Chapter 19

It's been one week since Alessia had her first assassination with the Dark Brotherhood. Her and Karissa were just arriving to the Santuary after they finished the contracts they were given. Astrid was standing near the entrance, reading over something at her table. 

"Two assassins of the Dark Brotherhood spotted in Whiterun. A few hours later two citizens found dead in their home. One witness said on of those assassins had eyes of a vampire. Unsure whether that information is true or not, which I'm sure it is since I am standing in a room with one of my assassins who is a vampire. The Jarl of Whiterun would gladly award any citizen with information that is helpful." Astrid picked up the paper and waved it around in the air in front of them. 

"It was completely my fault, I got distracted." Alessia took a step towards Astrid. "It won't happen again." 

"I would hope it won't happen again. Other than this incident I am so far pleased with your work." Astrid's usual smirk appeared as she tossed a rather large coin purse Alessia, then another to Karissa. "You two can rest, you had a good week." 

They walked away from Astrid and to their rooms, but Karissa followed Alessia into her room. She stood by the door while Alessia placed her stuff down. She turned back after a few moments, realizing that she was in the room. 

"Yes?" Alessia sat down in one of the chairs, motioning for Karissa to sit with her. 

"When we were near Whiterun, the thing we talked about, did you mean it?" 

"I already told you that I meant what I said to Astrid." 

"I wasn't talking about that. What we talking about after that." Alessia nodded in realization in what Karissa was talking about. 

"I wasn't flirting with you if that's what you're asking." Alessia looked at Karissa, trying to figure out the blank expression. 

"Okay but, you do think someone here is pretty though?" 

"Look, I'm not interested. If you haven't noticed I'm having a hard time emotionally since the person I loved seemed as if she didn't love me at all. Leave me, please." Karissa stood up and looked down to Alessia. 

"You need someone to help you forget her." Without another word, she walked out of the room, loudly shutting the door behind her. 

Before long the door opened again, Alessia looked up and saw Astrid walking in. She took the seat in front of her. 

"What distracted you in Whiterun?" 

"She was there. Karissa knew the guards were coming and told me to get out the house so I did but as we were running away we ran into each other. We both fell and when I looked her into the eyes, I just don't know. Part of me was hoping she would recognize me but she stood up and looked at me like I was nobody." 

"I don't do this often, but if you would like, I can you time. Let you find yourself again, ease the pain she brought you. You can stay here and help handle stuff inside, I won't make you go out and handle contracts." Alessia nodded, but didn't look over to Astrid. 

"Do you know who the Dawnguard are?" 

"Yes, the vampire hunters." There was a bit of suspicion in Astrid's tone. 

"I still have business with them. It would take a week, two at most, but could I go to them to handle it? Only if it's okay with you." Alessia looked up once she finished speaking. Astrid furrowed her eyebrows as she thought. 

"Are you trying to get yourself killed? You're a vampire and they are vampire hunters." 

"They trust me, I think. I was with them before I was turned. They wouldn't harm me." Astrid nodded and stood up. 

"You can go. Karissa will accompany you for your protection. I have a good feeling that you will do great things for us and I don't want that to go away because someone killed you for being a vampire." 

Alessia waited until Astrid was out of the room before she let out a frustrated groan. She would have rather done this alone, she didn't need people who weren't involved joining her. She didn't want Karissa asking questions and getting killed. 

She quickly gathered her things from around the room and then exited. As she walked up to the door leaving the Santuary she heard footsteps behind her. 

"You aren't leaving without me." Alessia looked behind her and saw Karissa with her gear on. "Now I don't know what business you have with the Dawnguard but it probably isn't good. Walking right to the people who want you dead is never good." 

"They don't want me dead, I'm helping them. The leader, Isran, will probably go on a whole rant about you being my thrall just ignore him and let me handle it." 

"Are you turning me into your thrall? Please don't." Alessia laughed as they walked on the road towards Falkreath. 

"No I'm not. You're here to protect me under Astrid's orders. By helping me you are also saving people." 

"I don't usually save people. It's sort of the opposite of what we do." 

"Well for the next week or two you will be saving people."

* * *

Serana was reading when she heard a knock on the door. She closed her book and set it down before going to open the door. She opened it to see Lydia, moving to the side so she could enter. 

"You're leaving to go to the Dawnguard soon correct?" Serana only nodded, she decided what day she would be leaving today. "Is that why you came to see me last night?" 

"Yes, partially. I'm leaving tomorrow and I still don't really know my way around Skyrim, it was luck I found my way back here. I was wondering if you could show me to Fort Dawnguard." 

"I can do that. What was the other thing you wanted to speak to me about?" 

"Yesterday night, in sure you know by now that two from the Dark Brotherhood were here. One of them was a vampire, ran into me while escaping. Whoever it was, paused for some reason, I'm unsure why. The person glanced down to the hand I had the ring on then back to me before the other dragged them to leave." Serana paused, making sure Lydia was still paying attention. "When I met Alessia I could sense some sort of power that was within her, from her being Dragonborn. I sensed the same in that person." 

"It wouldn't be Alessia. She had no interactions with the Dark Brotherhood." 

"I was overthinking it, it couldn't be her. She's gone. The pain is going away now, along with the nightmares I've been having." Lydia didn't know what to say, she only nodded, a sympathetic smile on her face. 

They stood in silence for a few moments before Lydia eventually moved to one of the chairs. Serana followed to sit next to her. 

"I'll stay the night here so we can leave once it's daylight. I can stay in the extra room." 

"We should rest then, since it is getting dark out." Serana headed upstairs first, she heard Lydia's loud steps shortly after.

Serana was glad some of the pain went away, it allowed her to fall asleep more easily and also to have some restful nights. She also began thinking of her less during the day. Small things still reminded her of Alessia, things laying around her home. The occasional guard speaking of the Thane being gone for awhile also brought back thoughts of her. Forgetting her seemed like a thing she could now do, with time. 

* * *

Alessia was thankful for a carriage being it Falkreath. It made the trip shorter, involving less awkward silence between her and Karissa. The driver stopped just before the canyon, taking Alessia's gold before going back towards Riften. 

"Wow, what an amazing fort." Karissa laughed at herself as she looked around. They were outside of Dayspring Canyon. 

"We aren't there yet. We have to go through here." Alessia pointed over to the entrance of the canyon. 

"It's inside a cave?" 

"Canyon. Let me do all the talking, I have to explain a lot to Isran." They walked next to each other through the canyon and made it to the gates of the fort. 

Alessia pulled down her hood and mask, making Karissa do the same. A man Alessia recognized as Celann approached them. She took his hand and shook it before speaking. 

"Is Isran around?" 

"Yes he's inside. Is that your thrall?" Celann motioned to Karissa as she stood behind Alessia. 

"No she's a friend." They began walking, Celann making small conversation with Alessia. 

"I see you wear the armor of the Dark Brotherhood." He held the door open for them once they approached the entrance. 

"Yes, long story." Isran immediately approached them once they stepped foot inside. 

"What are you doing here?" Isran glared at Alessia, then to Celann, meaning for him to leave them. 

"Auriel's Bow, Serana has it." 

"Where is she?" Alessia couldn't help but slightly chuckle at the anger in Isran's tone. 

"Whiterun, but I have a feeling she will be coming here soon. I'm not with her because she believes I am dead." 

"Well you are dead." 

"No I mean like actually dead. While in the Chantry of Auriel I was injured, barely alive when found by Karissa here. She left me there, taking the bow." Karissa stepped from behind Alessia at the mention of her name. 

"That vampire was using you. For all we know she is coming at us with the whole Volkihar clan. And is this your thrall?" Isran placed a hand on the weapon on his back. 

"No she's the one of the people who saved me. You are hard to get past you know. I overheard her speaking to my previous Housecarl, she is coming her for help to end her father." He moved his hand so it was running through his beard. 

"Why do you come to me with information?" 

"I'm here to help with whatever she wants. She wants to take on her father on her own, my guess. While your people handle the others. I will be a back up to her, give her help if she needs it. I don't want her father to succeed in his plans. When she comes her she is not to know that I am alive and here. It will be hard to hide though." 

"I will help her since it means to end her father and his clan. I will do my best to keep your presence hidden. There's a spare room upstairs you two may use." Alessia and Karissa made their way up to the room. It was rather large, but it only had one bed. 

"Why don't you want her to know that you are alive?" Karissa turned her back to Alessia as she began changing, Alessia quickly turned away. 

"I'm hoping that she explains why she left me there." Alessia looked over her shoulder as Karissa was putting on a shirt and pants for her to sleep in. She quickly changed while she was turned away as well. 

"Are you hoping it helps you forget?" 

"Maybe. I think she's already forgetting me anyway so I should do the same." Alessia walked over to the bed, laying on the far side against the wall. Karissa slowly laid down next to her. 

"What makes you say that?" 

"She wasn't wearing the ring I gave her, it didn't mean much though, just for protection. It's the exact same as this one." 

"Resist fire enchantment." Karissa held the hand that had Alessia's ring, running her finger over it. 

"Vampires aren't fans of fire." 

"Yeah. We should get some sleep." Alessia nodded turning away from Kariss and facing the wall. She waited a few minutes before she heard Karissa's breaths even out before she closed her eyes and fell asleep. 

* * *

The next morning, Alessia woke up to a familiar voice, echoing from the entrance of the fort. As she sat up and stood from the bed she heard another familiar voice coming from the same spot. She exited the room, Karissa following behind her. 

Once she got to the balcony overlooking the first floor she stood behind a stack of boxes while Karissa leaned against the railing. Alessia quickly went invisible and moved next to her so she could see what was happening. 

"Isran!" Serana's voice rang through the fort for the second time in a few minutes. 

"Are you sure he's here?" Serana nodded to Lydia. Soon after Isran angrily walked up to both of them. 

"You're here, again. What is it this time?" Alessia was nervous for how Serana would explain her absence. 

"I have Auriel's Bow. We can defeat my father now. I figured you would enjoy that news. I also came to ask for your help in defeating him since I can't take on a whole clan of vampires on my own." Isran crossed his arms and glanced between Lydia and Serana. 

"Where is Alessia?" 

"She died while we were getting the bow. That isn't of concern right now, we need to plan how we will do this." Alessia clenched her jaw at Serana's answer. Astrid and Karissa were right, she must've never cared. 

"I'm sorry to hear that. Let me bring my men here and we will start discussing what we will do." Isran took a quick glance to where Karissa and Alessia were standing, although he could only see Karissa. 

Alessia's eyes never left Serana. She didn't hesitate in telling Isran what happened, had no tone of sadness or sympathy. Serana's eyes looked to where Karissa was standing, they quickly narrowed. Alessia saw her hand move slowly towards her dagger, resting on its hilt. 

"She's wearing Brotherhood armor. Do you recognize her?" Alessia glanced to Lydia, her eyes also on Karissa. She must not be able to hear what they are saying since she didn't make any sudden movements. 

"No. I only saw their eyes and heard one of their voices. The one that wasn't a vampire was a woman." Serana glanced to the empty space next to Karissa, where Alessia was standing. Her gaze quickly moved as movement was heard from below. 

Multiple Dawnguard members came inside while others followed Isran from the sleeping quarters of the fort. They all quickly grouped in one area of the room, giving Isran space to speak to them. 

"In two days we will be attacking Castle Volkihar. We have the weapon to do so. Us Dawnguard members will take on everyone other than the one who calls himself Harkon, their leader. Serana has Auriel's Bow, she will be the one to defeat him." He paused, looking at Serana who nodded at him. "We will leave now, the carriages are already being prepared. Grab everything you need to take with you and we will be off." 

Everyone quickly left the area except for Isran, Lydia, and Serana. Karissa and Alessia moved into the room, gathering their things. The door opened a few moments later, Isran stepped inside. 

"Serana saw you, I had to tell her that you will be helping with us. I said that you two are highly trained in killing, which I'm guessing you are, and that you will be her back up if she needs it. I apologize if that's an inconvenience. I also have two horses ready for both of you to follow us from behind." 

"No it's fine, she doesn't know it's me. I can hide my identity, except my eyes." Isran nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind him. 

"You're upset." Alessia was leaning on the small table, her hands clenching both ends hard enough for her knuckles to turn white. 

"You and Astrid were right, as much as I don't want to admit it." She felt a hand over her own, causing her to lessen her grip on the table. 

"I can imagine that you are very hurt by knowing the truth. I've never had heartbreak before so I don't know the feeling, to say I understand." 

"I'll be okay. This one is for me to clear my thoughts, so I no longer worry about her being caught by her father's people. Us defeating him will end it." Alessia slung the bow over her back then pulled her mask and hood over her. "We should go." 

They walked out in silence, making there way to the first floor. By the door, Serana and Isran were waiting, making sure everyone was ready and leaving. As they walked by, Alessia kept her gaze forward not looking over to Serana. She felt Serana's stare until they exited, stepping out into the morning sun. 

There was only one more carriage left and two horses outside the gates. Alessia and Karissa mounted the horses and waited for Isran and Serana, luckily they weren't far behind. They climbed onto the carriage, beginning their long journey to Castle Volkihar. 

* * *

There was only a few hours of rest, the rest was quick travel to their destination. They made it to Icewater Jetty by nightfall of the second day. Isran must have ordered for more boats to be placed there since there were two on the shore. 

Karissa and Alessia took one while Serana and Isran took the other. Isran took the boat first, they followed behind. Alessia smelled the blood before they even came close to shore. As they got nearer, many bodies laid on the ground. Few Dawnguard soldiers stood outside. 

Once they landed ashore one approached Isran. "All of them are dead sir, except their leader. He as locked himself inside one of the rooms." 

Serana didn't say anything and began running towards the castle. Alessia began running a distance behind her along with Karissa. Once inside they made their way to what Alessia remembered as the Cathedral. Serana stopped before entering. 

"This is my father in their. He is more powerful than both of you could probably imagine. You may come and fight with me but know one thing, I get to end his life. You are simply there to help. He died by my blade." Neither said anything, only nodding and entered with their weapons drawn behind Serana. 

"Serana, I see you have brought me my bow. Two strangers, no one stranger also." Alessia tensed slightly as she hear Harkon speak, along with seeing him in the monstrous form. Serana walked closer with an arrow already ready on the bow. She didn't seem to care about what her father said about them. 

"I didn't bring the bow for you." Alessia stood a distance back, an arrow also ready on her bow. Karissa stood next to her with her sword drawn. "You have ruined everything, our family, my life, now you plan on ruining the world. I can't let you do that." 

"You speak like your mother, you have been influenced by her to much." 

"I'm not like her. I am actually standing up to you for once, something she never did." Harkon's gazed shifted over to Alessia and Karissa. 

"You have influenced my daughter. It was only a matter of time before her heart filled with hatred." Alessia cleared her throat before speaking, disguising her voice the best she could. 

"I've never spoken to your daughter before. I have nothing to do with her hatred. Neither does my friend." Serana turned back to her, she hesitated for a moment thinking she was recognized. 

"I have only met these two just recently, they have no influence on my choices." 

"Tell me Serana, what is of your, hmm, lover, Alessia?" Alessia detected the amusement in Harkon as he spoke. 

"Dead." 

"How are you feeling about that?" Serana looked down for a moment, then back to her father. 

"The pain has passed. She is almost forgotten now." 

"Very well." Harkon turned his attention back to Alessia and Karissa. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I take care of them first then, unless you want to hand over the bow." 

"You will never lay a hand on this bow, or in your case, a claw." 

Harkon moved over to Karissa first, wrapping his claws around her neck, lifting her from the ground. Alessia took no time to hesitate, shooting an arrow at Harkon's arm, causing Karissa to fall to the ground. He quickly looked at her, then began moving towards her. 

An arrow flew past her head, hitting Harkon in the shoulder. Once the arrow struck, an explosion of light came from him, as if there was a sun around. Harkon turned his attention to his daughter. He approached her, hitting the bow from her grasp and lifting her, pushing her against a stone pillar. 

"Can't you see I'm doing this for our kind? Alessia pushed you into the wrong direction in many ways, and all against your own father." Serana struggled in his grasp, his other hand moving up as magic began flowing in it. 

"She... didn't. I am... doing... what I think is... right. She had little... influence on my... choice... I knew what you... were doing... was... wrong." Alessia was pulled back by Karissa into the opposite corner. 

"You, vampire come here." Alessia slowly walked towards them, nervously glancing between Serana and Harkon. "Show your face." 

"I can't. My duty of being in the Dark Brotherhood requires me to not show my true identity." Alessia quickly came up with the lie, keeping her gaze on Serana and the claws around her neck. 

"Show my daughter who you truly are. If not, I won't hesitate to kill her right in front of you. I know the pain it will bring you." Serana gave her a pleading look, one Alessia quickly looked away from and to Karissa. 

"Do it. She deserves to know Sister." Karissa didn't make an attempt to hide her voice, knowing Serana would most likely recognize it. 

"Deserve... to know... what?" Alessia took a deep breath and turned her back to them. She pulled down her mask and dropped her bow, then pulled out her sword. She kept her head down and hood up, hiding her face as she moved behind Harkon. 

She took her sword in both hands, preparing herself. Alessia raised the sword slightly, she knew Serana would be watching her every move, and soon would Harkon. She quickly made herself invisible before taking her sword through Harkon's back, the tip barely showing through his chest, making herself visible again once the sword hit. 

Serana fell from his grasp as he turned into a red ash in front of them both. Alessia kept her head down, hearing Serana's footsteps move closer. Her sword fell from her hands as she felt familiar fingers under her chin, bringing her head up. 

"You're... you're... alive... You can't be." Serana's eyes filled with shock, Alessia's showed no emotion. She quickly grabbed Serana's wrist, moving her hand away from her. 

"I am. You left me there, almost dead. You never cared did you? You only used me to kill your father. Well congratulations, he's dead." Alessia turned away and picked up both of her weapons. 

"No... Alessia it wasn't, it's not like that." Alessia kept her back to Serana, her gaze on Karissa. She turned and angrily moved to Serana, pushing her against the pillar. 

"Then what is it Serana? You seemed to not care that I died when you told Isran. Yes I was there, I told him not to tell you I was alive. Then here you show even less emotion. The ring I gave you is even gone. You did a good job forgetting me." 

"Alessia, please." Serana had tears in her eyes, threatening to spill. 

"I should have known. You know what, I should have listened to Lydia. I should have never went to the Dawnguard. I could be with her. But no, I got someone who only cared about ending her father." Alessia moved back from Serana and towards the door. She looked at Karissa, she quickly walked through the door before her. 

Alessia watched as Serana slid down the pillar, head in her hands. She turned away shaking her head and looked back to Serana. 

"I can't believe that I fell for you." 


	20. Chapter 20

Serana didn't look to Alessia as she left, her final words breaking her heart. She only looked up when there were no more footsteps in the castle and no voices were heard. Slowly getting up, she made her way to her bedroom, her old one. 

Everything was torn apart. Her possessions laid scattered around the room while their shelves were broken to pieces. As much as she didn't want to, she would have to go back and stay in Whiterun. Maybe she could go stay with the Dawnguard, but it wasn't likely. 

She made her way outside and onto a boat. Doing her best in trying to figure out how to get to Solitude so she can rest. 

* * *

"Alessia." Karissa stood in shock by what she just witnessed. She expected Alessia to try and get an explanation for what happened. "Alessia what happened?" 

"You saw what happened." Alessia stopped when Karissa blocked her way. 

"Do you still love her?" 

"What?" 

"You heard." Alessia stared at her in silence, unsure of how to react. 

"We should go somewhere to rest and then head back to the Sanctuary." Karissa was pushed to the side as Alessia walked past her. 

"I would have thought you would have been a bit nicer to her if she realized it was you in this situation. Her father just died by your blade." Alessia turned, jaw clenched. 

"You don't know what we went through to do that. He deserved it and she knows it. Her own father was ready to kill her for some stupid prophecy. He wanted to kill me, he almost did in the past." Alessia stopped, waiting for a response from Karissa. 

"Prophecy?" 

"Blocking out the sun with Serana's blood, a sacrifice." Karissa said nothing, only nodding her head. "Let's go, I don't want to be here longer than I have to." 

They traveled in silence for the most part. Karissa had occasional questions about Alessia that she replied to by silence. Alessia was lost in her thoughts, she was unsure why she said the things she did. She knew it was mostly what she felt. 

What she said about listening to Lydia wasn't true, she would have done it again if it meant she could meet Serana. Yet she would rather the outcome of them meeting to be much different. The memories with her, the good ones, were great while they lasted. 

She was to lost in her thoughts to not realize that they had made it into Solitude and to the Winking Skeever. Alessia immediately walked up to the counter and got both of them some mead to drink. She walked over to a table in the back with Karissa. 

"You never answered any of my questions on the way here." 

"Sorry, I was just lost in my thoughts, happens often on trips. You have my full attention now." Alessia took a quick drink before Karissa began asking questions. Since they've known each other, neither has shared much about themselves.

"Lydia, you mentioned her to Serana. Who is she?" 

"Let's see, ex-Housecarl, ex-lover, probably not my friend anymore but she was. She's the one that was with Serana by Jorrvaskr and that came with her to meet Isran." 

"I did hear rumors of the Thane of Whiterun being romantically involved with her Housecarl." Alessia slowly nodded, taking another drink. 

"Rumors are true. Could you ask me something other than things related to stuff like that?" Karissa nodded, pondering what she could ask next. 

"You're from Cyrodiil, correct?" 

"Yeah, Bravil. I left about a year ago. Where did you live before coming here?" 

"My brother and I moved around a lot. I was born in Skingrad. Then moved to Valenwood when I was two. Been in Skyrim since I was five as you already know." 

"Your parents didn't move with you?" Karissa shook her head no, looking down at her hands at on the table. 

"They left after I was born. My brother was old enough to know how to take care of me and himself. We moved around a lot because he was always looking for a place that could allow me to have a good life. Why did you leave?" 

"Other than living on the streets with my brother and sister, I wanted to have a family. That's why I first came here but then I found out I was Dragonborn and everything else happened, I figured I wouldn't be able to do that." 

"You have a brother and sister?" 

"Yeah, they are fifteen. I miss them. I did the same thing to them as my mother did, I don't want to be like her." Alessia was also looking down at her hands, Karissa moved and placed her hand over Alessia's. 

"I'm guessing your mother wasn't that great." Alessia let out a soft laugh at that, it was the truth. 

"She wasn't. She left us to raise ourselves on our own while she did what ever. I'm pretty sure that she used all of her money on skooma, the money that was suppose to be used to feed us. Slept with whatever man would sleep with her. I don't know who my father is because of that." 

"Damn. Have you ever thought of going to find your siblings?" 

"Yes. After what we just finished was over and I do my deeds as Dragonborn, me and Serana were going to go find them." 

"Speaking of Serana." Alessia gave her a confused look and heard the door to the inn shut. She quickly turned and saw Serana walking over to the counter of the inn. 

"Is this enough for a small room, one night?" The man at the counter began slowly counting the gold. Alessia pulled a small amount of gold from her pack and stood up. 

"I'm gonna get us a room." Alessia walked up to the counter, placing her gold on it. 

"More mead?" The man looked to Alessia as he handed Serana a key, she didn't move. 

"No, a room. This should be enough for one with a larger bed." He took the gold and handed a key to Alessia. From the corner of her eye she saw Serana look over to where Karissa was sitting. 

"You two seem close." Alessia looked up at Serana, narrowing her eyes. 

"Care about me all of the sudden?" 

"I've always cared." Alessia smiled, looking down and trying not to laugh. 

"Didn't feel like you did." She walked away, leaving Serana at the counter to watch her. 

Alessia walked over to Karissa, grabbing her by the wrist and walked upstairs to their room. Once in the room, she shut the door then leaned against it, not letting go off Karissa's wrist. She let out a sigh as she looked up to Karissa. 

"You told me I need someone to help me forget. I want you to help me forget her." Karissa took a step closer to her, smiling.

"Maybe if I hit you hard enough on the head you'll forget some stuff." 

"I don't like that idea. Got anything less violent?" 

"I have a feeling you won't like my other idea." 

"Do it just, help me forget." 

* * *

_One and a Half Months Later_

The Dark Brotherhood almost fell. Astrid had turned against Alessia and Karissa, causing her death. The Sanctuary in Falkreath was destroyed by the Penitus Oculatus after the attempted murder of the Emperor. Astrid had arranged for Alsssia and Karissa to kill him, but he turned out to not be the real Emperor. 

In exchanges she was allowing them to die so the Dark Brotherhood was spared. They had escaped, returning to find the Sanctuary in flames, few making it out alive. Those few were Alessia, Karissa, Nazir, and Babette. Astrid had ordered Karissa to kill her, making her the new leader. Previous to this Karissa had found out she was the Listener upon the Night Mother's arrival. 

Now they call their home the Dawnstar Sanctuary. They had rebuilt the place, along with the Dark Brotherhood. 

Currently, everyone was eating around the large table in the middle of the Sanctuary. Small talk was filling the air on occasion. 

Karissa cleared her throat, sitting st the head of the table, everyone turned their attention to her. "I know this isn't the time but there is a contract right now. I'm not assigning anyone to it, if you want it you can come to me whenever and say you would like it." 

"Why aren't you assigning it?" Karissa looked to Alessia, taking a deep breath. 

"Because of who the contract is on." 

"Who is it?" 

"Alessia we can talk about this another time." Alessia narrowed her eyes at her, setting down the bite of food she was about to eat. 

"You're nervous about something, hiding something from me." Alessia heard her heart beating faster than normal, her face remained calm though. 

"I'm hiding it to protect you." 

"I'm done eating. We can talk later, or once you don't want to hide anything." Alessia got up and walked to the room that her and Karissa recently started sharing. 

In the room she saw a small stack of papers. Alessia walked up to them, began reading the first paper. They were the set of new contracts that haven't been done yet. She didn't recognize any of the names, so she moved to the next paper. On the next paper it had one name on it, one she knew to well. 

* * *

"Listener, I don't know what you would be hiding but you should tell her. You guys are in a good place right now." Karissa looked up once she heard Babette's voice from down the table. 

"I can't simply tell her who the contract is on. It will hurt her emotionally." 

"It might also hurt her if she finds out without you being the one to tell her." 

"I'm not telling her. I can at least explain why I'm not." Karissa stood up and walked down the long hallway that led to her room. Alessia heard her before she even walked into the room. 

"I'll take the contract." 

"No you aren't." Karissa sat down next to Alessia on the bed, taking the paper from her. "I'm not letting you do that to yourself." 

"I'm already upset enough that there is one on her. If you aren't letting me take the contract, can I at least go after the person who wants her dead?" 

"I don't know who it is. The Night Mother tells me where to meet the person to get the gold. I send one of the newer people to get it and have them tell me who they want dead." 

"Can I have a moment alone please?" 

"Of course." Karissa kissed Alessia on her temple before walking out of the room, shutting the door behind her. 

"How did it go?" Nazir was standing by the door as Karissa left. 

"It could have went better." 

"She found out?" Karissa only nodded her head, walking down to the table where everyone else was still seated. 

"I left my papers of available contracts on the desk and she read it. Then she asked if she could take it but I wouldn't let her." 

"Why wouldn't you?" 

"Because it's on the woman who left her. She is finally over her basically, or that's what she tells me. If I let her take it she might have been worse than she was when we found her." Karissa was about to continue but her thoughts were interrupted by the Night Mother talking to her. 

_Allow her to take the contract. Allow her to take revenge. She is already getting ready to leave._

"I'll be back." Karissa quickly stood up and walked back to the bedroom, opening the door to see Alessia gathering the items she takes when traveling. 

"I asked for a moment alone." 

"I know that. The Night Mother spoke to me, she wants me to allow you to take the contract." Alessia turned to look over at her. Her hands were fidgeting, a sign she was unsure of a choice. 

"I planned on going without your permission anyway." 

"And I still don't want you to go." She walked forward, placing a hand on Alessia's shoulder. "I don't want you hating yourself for well, eternity because you might do this." 

"I know you don't. I don't know what it is, I feel like I won't be able to live knowing that I let someone else do it." Alessia paused and placed her hand on top of Karissa's. "Besides, this is my life now. Sometimes I have to do things I might regret. That's what happens when you kill people, regret comes sometimes." 

"Have you felt any regret for any of the things you've done since you've been here?" This was a question Alessia didn't know how to answer, there were somethings other than killing that she regretted. 

"I have. I'm sure I'm not the only one though." 

"You aren't. We both have a bounty on us in Whiterun. Please be careful and don't spend more time than you need to there or in any place nearby." Karissa placed two sheets of paper into her pack before pulling her into a hug. 

"I'll be fine. They might overlook it since I am Thane and have never done anything before." 

"I'm giving you a week. If you're not back by then I will come find you myself." 

"I trust you will." Alessia pulled away and they both began walking to the exit. "Don't miss me to much." 

"You know I will." 

* * *

Alessia was glad they had armor other than the usual attire of an assassin in the Sanctuary. She had found plain leather armor, it wasn't her favorite but it would have to do. Hiding her face face was the hardest part, guards and citizens walked passed often, everyone looking over to her. She had to use her hood and mask, knowing that most probably assumed their Thane was dead. At least she didn't have to travel far into the city to reach Breezehome. 

She didn't knock on the door as she approached, letting herself in since it technically was her home. It looked different than it had before. Some items were out of place, some were no longer there and new items appeared. 

"Excuse you, this isn't your home." Serana was walking down the stairs, most likely just waking up by the looks of her clothes. 

"Actually it is." Alessia pulled down her hood and mask, looking over to her. "It's nice what you've done to the place." 

"Why are you here?" It came out more demanding than a question. Alessia pulled out a paper from her pack before answering. 

"Vampire, living in Breezehome. Wears vampire royalty attire, female." 

"What's that?" Serana took the paper from Alessia, reading over what she said aloud. 

"Someone wants you dead. Whom, I don't know." 

"Being dead on the inside isn't enough?" 

"Oh, come on. Don't be so cheerful." Alessia smirked, waiting for Serana's reply but all she got was a sharp pain in both legs, causing her to fall. 

"I wonder what the Jarl would think of this. His Thane coming back from the dead, being the one that murdered two of his citizens and then comes back again to murder the woman she loved." Some type of magic bound Alessia's hands together. 

"What are you doing?" Serana pulled her up by her arm, pulling her to the door. 

"We are taking a trip to Dragonsreach." Serana pulled up Alessia's hood and mask as she smiled. "Adds a little shock factor." 

"You know I wasn't really going to kill you. I was going to warn you to leave." 

"And what would your new girl think of that?" 

"My new girl?" 

"Don't act so innocent I heard you two in Solitude." Alessia couldn't help but laugh, it was cut short by some other magic. She was then unable to speak. "That might help, almost forget you could kill someone with the Voice." 

They quickly made it to Dragonsreach, a small crowd of people were following part of the way. The only ones that followed them in were guards asking questions that Serana just waved off. 

"What is the meaning of this?" Alessia was pushed down to her knees in front of Jarl Balgruuf by Serana. 

"The Dark Brotherhood assassin you've been looking for. She came into my home trying to kill me." Some of the guards pulled out their swords, keeping their eyes glued to Alessia for any sudden movements. 

"You don't own that home, it's the deceased Thane's. You only live their because of your relation with her." Serana snickered as he talked, earning a glare from Irileth. 

"Your Thane isn't dead sir." 

"Then where has she been for the past few months?" 

"Well one of those months was with me. Family troubles. The rest of that time you can ask her yourself." Serana pulled off Alessia's hood and mask, earning a gasp from most in the room. She felt the magic leave her lips, allowing her to talk. 

"Now thinking about it I should have killed you. My Jarl, please, would you tell her to let me go. I am Thane of this city and this is very unnecessary." He ignored her, turning his attention to Serana. 

"Do you have proof that she was the one who murdered those two men?" 

"I only have proof that she was here to kill me." She took the sheet of paper and handed to the Jarl, he quickly read it over with a blank expression. 

"You could have wrote this before coming here, not enough proof." A guard moved forward, next to Serana. 

"I've read previously from reports from other cities that some assassins they have caught had a tattoo of a hand." 

"I only have one tattoo and it isn't a hand. Right Serana? You've seen more than enough to know that." Alessia turned back to Serana and winked, earning a glare from her. 

"Take her cuirass off." Nobody moved, he looked at Serana as if she were to do it. "Serana, she said your name was?" 

"Yes." 

"Leave us." The guards left the room, leaving only Serana, Alessia, Irileth, and the Jarl. "Take it off then." 

Serana moved to Alessia, pulling her up and began to undo her armor. Alessia couldn't help but silently laugh to herself the whole time. 

"This isn't how I pictured you taking my clothing off of me again." 

"Shut up." Serana let the cuirass fall to the floor, a smirk was on Alessia's face. "It's on her shoulder." 

Alessia was turned so her back was facing them. She felt hands grab her arms, pulling her to the entrance of the prison. Her belongings were taken and she was given a shirt and pants. She was placed in a cell with only a small amount of food and a bedroll laying in the corner.

"Glad to see the Thane can't even escape from being locked up." Alessia Alessia looked at the cell across from her, a man was standing there, looking over to her. 

"The Thane should be able to escape but I guess it doesn't pass when you kill two people." Alessia sat down on the bedroll, not caring to make any friends. 

"They should have your head by now, not in a prison cell." 

"You really think that they would kill me? I'm Dragonborn, the one that's going to save all your asses once I get to it." 

"Now would be a good time for you to do that. You decided to get stuck in here though." 

Alessia ignored him and laid down. If she was going to be stuck in here she thought she could put some good use to it. She quickly drifted off to sleep as the man continued to speak about some random things she didn't care about. 

* * *

_Two Days Later_

"Wake up Imperial you have a visitor." Alessia sat up slowly and looked to see a guard standing in front of the cell. "Ten minutes only." 

"I don't know if I should be glad to see you or mad that you're in here." Lydia moved from behind the guard, crossing her arms as she stepped in front of the cell door. 

"You could be glad I'm alive at least." Alessia stood up and walked up to her, leaning against the wall. 

"I am. I'm just confused about why you did it." 

"They were the first two. I didn't really have a choice to leave at first. Then I wanted to be there. There's someone back home, she helped me get over Serana and for once I was happy again. I want to be there and with them, doing what I do." 

"I didn't fall in love with a murderer Alessia. I fell in love with someone who was suppose to save the world. This isn't you." 

"It is me." Alessia moved from Lydia and sat against the far wall from her. 

"There's talk of a public execution on you. Not just for those murders but also neglecting to act as Dragonborn." 

"That's bullshit." 

"I know. I'm going to try my best and see if I can do anything to stop it." Alessia only nodded. She knew Lydia wouldn't be able to stop anything. "I'll try to see you again once I get more news." 

Lydia walked away with a small smile. 

Alessia was bored out of her mind. There was nothing to do except sit and sleep. She wondered how people were able to spend years in places like this. She wished for someone to break her out of here, she wished she could break herself out. 

She peeked up her head as she heard footsteps coming closer, but no heartbeat to go with them. Alessia rolled her eyes as the person stopped in front of whet she was. She looked back up when she heard light sobbing. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I thought they would just lock you up for a bit and then let you go. I never thought they would want to execute you." Serana sat down in front of the door, one hand gripping a bar. 

"What did you expect to happen Serana? I killed two people here so of course they were going to do something." Alessia stood up, her voice rising slightly after each word she said.

"I don't know what I expected." 

"I loved you Serana, I thought you loved me too. All I ever did was help you and protect you. You left me there, and it broke my heart. I felt used." 

"How do you think I felt when both of those people told me your were dead? I had nightmares for weeks, always of you dying right in front of me or in my arms because I couldn't do anything. There were times where I asked myself what the point of me living was. Days I needed to feed, I didn't want to because that meant I would be living longer to remember you. I couldn't handle thinking that you were dead, I had so much pain. I wanted to forget you because you brought me pain by not being here next to me. That's why I got rid of the ring and why I made the home look different. It reminded me of you." Tears fell down Serana's face, dripping to the floor, making Alessia think that soon there would be a puddle where she sat. 

"You still did this, turn me in." 

"I know... I don't know what I was thinking. I know you won't forgive me even though I am sorry." Alessia was about to say something but she heard the clanking of guard's boots coming down the hall. 

"Ma'am please step back. We need to take her with us." The one guard pulled out a set of keys, unlocking the cell door. 

"Where are you taking her?" The guard said nothing, grabbing Alessia by the arm and tying her hands together. "Please tell me where you are taking her." 

"Jarl just ordered for public execution now due to certain circumstances I cannot say." Serana followed behind them as they began walking to the exit. 

"Alessia I couldn't do anything, he wouldn't listen to me." Lydia was on the other side of the door and began following them also. 

"It's okay, you tried." They walked out of Dragonsreach and stopped in front of Jorrvaskr. There was a large group of people standing around the execution block. 

"I think it comes as a shock to many that the Thane of Whiterun is at blame for the deaths of its two citizens. Then that Thane is Dragonborn, and yet fails to help the people of Skyrim from the end of times." Jarl Balgruuf was already waiting for her. 

"This would make a good story you know. The Dragonborn executed in the city she was made Thane. Sad that nobody would be able to write it. By killing me you just prove the end of times to happen." 

"You should have thought that before you joined with the Dark Brotherhood. You won't have a dragon here to save you this time." Alessia felt a guard behind her, pushing her down to her knees in front of the Jarl. She looked over to Serana and Lydia, tears were still falling down Serana's face. 

"You can forget me this time." Alessia said it silently, but she knew Serana heard as she turned away and laid her head on Lydia's shoulder. 

"Your sword." A guard handed Jarl Balgruuf his sword as he kept his gaze on Alessia. 

He took the sword, Alessia looked at the ground. She heard him move, as if preparing to take his strike, she closed her eyes before she could see or feel anything hit her. A few seconds passed and nothing happened, yet she dared not to open her eyes. A few more passed, she heard the sword move back through the air, then forward.  

"Wait!"


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for getting this story over 1000 reads! Never thought it would get this many.

"Wait!" 

Alessia kept her eyes close. She expected the word to still come down on her, but she felt nothing. There were footsteps coming towards them, and by the sound of them that person was angry. 

"What is the meaning of this?" Jarl Balgruuf sounded angry as the footsteps got closer, stopping as the person was next to Alessia. 

"I could be asking the same thing. You can't just go kill the one who is to save us all. You need to give or tell her something that will make her save us. Killing her would make the end of times certain, as I'm sure you know, and many wouldn't appreciate that this being the Jarl's fault." Alessia let out a short, frustrated sigh as she heard who it was. 

"I should have both of you locked up right now." Alessia opened her eyes as his sword was put in its sheath. "But, I will let her go. She must go to the Greybeards immediately. She is also to take her previous Housecarl with her, I trust Lydia will make sure she does as she is told." 

"Thank you." Alessia kept her eyes forward, not wanting to see the scene around her. 

"When she finishes this I make no promises about what I do to her then." He walked away as Alessia felt the binds around her wrist being cut away. 

"I thought you were giving me a week." Alessia stood up and hugged Karissa. 

"I came a bit after you left. I had to make sure you were okay." 

"You left me in there for two days? I was bored out of my mind." Most of the crowd disappeared by the time Alessia pulled away from the hug. Her eyes caught Serana's for a moment before she looked back to Karissa. 

"I left you there so you realized that you shouldn't of come here. I heard about what was going to happen to you only a few moments before I got here to stop it." 

"Thank you." Karissa glanced over to where Lydia and Serana were watching them from a distance. 

"You didn't do it?" 

"I couldn't. I was going to tell her to leave Skyrim but she turned me in." 

"I'm guessing you don't want me to kill her then?" Alessia laughed and shook her head. 

"I've seen her fight, good luck trying." She felt a hand in hers as they began walking over to them, she let go once they got close. 

"It amazes me how many times you've avoided dying since I met you." 

"Talent of mine I guess." Serana's eyes moved to Karissa, her hand resting on the hilt of her dagger. 

"You should go get your stuff. Can't climb a mountain looking like that." Alessia turned her attention to Lydia, she looked a bit annoyed by the fact she had to go with her. 

"We're climbing a mountain?" 

"Me and Lydia are climbing a mountain. You have things to do back home correct?" 

"I'd rather not go back there right now due to the fact that both of us are avoiding a contract." Alessia only nodded and they began walking up to Dragonsreach to retrieve her belongings. 

After she got her things and changed, they headed to the exit of the city. The three of them stopped at the doors and looked back to Serana who was following them. She confusingly looked between them. 

"What?" Her eyes landed on Alessia, waiting for her to speak. 

"Come with me for a moment." They walked a distance from Lydia and Karissa so they were out of their hearing range. "I hope you aren't expecting to come also." 

"I am expecting to come with and I'm not arguing about this. Should we be on out way then?" Serana put her hands on her hips and glared at Alessia. 

"If you think what you said back there changed things, you are only partially correct. It changed things a bit. I'll be completely honest right now, I don't want you to come." 

"What changed exactly?" Serana had a smirk on her face as she stepped a bit closer to Alessia. 

"Me trying not to be a complete ass to you." Alessia stepped back and crossed her arms. 

"I'm coming with." 

"No you aren't." 

"Yes I am. Remember I am older than you, a lot older." 

"What is that suppose to mean?" 

"I am wiser than you and my instinct is telling me to join, so I am." Serana walked away with a smile on her face. 

Alessia followed behind her and looked over to Karissa, she had an annoyed expression on her face. "No." 

"I tried." 

"I don't know your name, but don't worry, I'm fun to be around. I won't try to sleep with Alessia again either, no matter how much I enjoyed." Serana opened the doors, allowing them to walk through. 

"Her name is Karissa and don't try anything with me." Serana smiled as they began their journey to High Hrothgar. 

* * *

"How long do you think it will take to climb the mountain?" Karissa stood at the end of the bridge near the beginning of the 7,000 steps. 

"I don't know, a day or two maybe. Hopefully not too long." 

It took four days to reach High Hrothgar. By the time it came into view Alessia and Karissa were almost frozen while Lydia and Serana walked as if the constant snow was nothing. Occasionally they both had to light a small flame in the palms of their hands to keep warm. 

Alessia let out a sigh of relief as she stepped inside the warm monastery. She immediately moved to an open fire, not caring that four men in robes were watching her. One spoke up as he got closer to Alessia. 

"A Dragonborn finally appears after all these years." Alessia turned and let out a small laugh. 

"It's been a year since I've known, not many."

"Many years for us Greybeards. I'm Arngeir, I speak for the Greybeards." He bowed his head to Alessia then took a step back. "We shall see if you truly are Dragonborn, let us taste your Voice." 

Arngeir moved next to the rest of the Greybeards while Alessia hesitantly stepped a distance in front of them. She figured it would be best to use a not so violent or strong Shout. She took a deep breath before looking up to them. 

_"FUS"_

"Welcome to High Hrothgar, Dragonborn. I can sense you already have a good knowledge of the Voice and that you know many Shouts." 

"Yes, I know some. Since I learned of this talent I've tried to learn during my few travels." Alessia was unsure why but she felt nervous, like one of them would scold her for taking a year to show up. 

"We have some things to speak about, but I will allow you and your friends to rest before doing so. The trip up here is not an easy one. There are beds down this hallway you may use." 

"Thank you." Arngeir nodded as him and the rest of the Greybeards walk away. Alessia turned back to see weird expressions on everyone's faces. 

"Did we really come all the way here for you to just Shout at them and rest?" Alessia rolled her eyes at Serana. 

"You didn't have to come." 

"How long will it take you to realize I am sorry?" Lydia quickly left, walking off to where the beds are. 

"We have an eternity to find out." Alessia walked away and walked through a door that led outside. She sat down on the last step, watching the snow fall around her. 

She hated the cold, it was worse here than the rest of Skyrim. She would rather be alone out here than in the same room as Serana and Karissa. Eventually during this trip a fight was waiting to happen and Alessia wasn't ready to see it. She leaned against the stone that was along the stairs, closing her eyes but was interrupted by the opening of the door behind her. 

"You look cold." Alessia turned and saw Lydia with a fur blanket wrapped around her and one in her hands. 

"What gave it away?" Alessia took the blanket and wrapped it around herself. 

"I know you, you're always cold." Alessia laughed and leaned back against the stone wall. 

"If I ask you something will you answer honestly?" 

"Depends on the question." Alessia lightly shoved Lydia, both of them laughing after. 

"Serana, was she really in so much pain she wanted to forget me and that she barely wanted to feed?" 

"Yeah. It took her three weeks to really talk to me and tell me what happened. When she did, she just broke down. When I left after she told me, she was talking to someone, nobody really I think. I couldn't understand what she was saying but it sounded like she was crying." Lydia looked to Alessia to see if she was still paying attention, she noticed a tear fall down her cheek but she quickly wiped it away. "When we first started seeing each other, I remember you had those really bad nightmares where all you would do is cry and not talk and just want to be held. Seeing her like that made me think about that." 

"I never told you about those nightmares did I?" 

"You didn't. You don't have to tell me though." 

"I'm going to. I was gone for a period of time after I met you and I spent that time at the Thieves Guild. I quickly became Guild Master. Before that me and two others were trying to bring down the current one and during that time he caught me breaking into his home for information. He tortured me for a week before someone got me out of there." 

Lydia only nodded, she didn't have anything to say. Alessia stared off into the distance, waiting for Lydia to say something. The silence stayed, along with them. Soon it got dark and Alessia felt sleep creeping onto her. 

"We should go in and get some sleep." Lydia looked to her and stood up. They both silently walked into the area with the beds, Alessia shook her head once she saw what was happening. 

Karissa was sitting on a bed as far from Serana as she could. There was a dagger laying next to her and she glared at her while Serana was reading. Her attention turned to Alessia and Lydia once they were in her sight. 

"Both of you survived a whole two hours on your own? I'm impressed." Alessia smiled as she earned a glare from Karissa. 

"Oh look, you survived the oh so terrible cold that you said would be the death of you on the way up here." 

"You were freezing too. You're lucky I have just a very very small knowledge of magic that happened to keep us sort of warm." Alessia laid down on the bed, Karissa moved to lay next to her. 

"It did nothing." Alessia laughed and looked over to Serana, who was glaring at them from the corner of her eye. 

"It helped me just a bit." 

"Go to sleep, I think your restlessness is not helping you think right." Alessia rolled her eyes and turned her back towards them, closing her eyes and falling asleep. 

* * *

Alessia woke up to someone heavily breathing and moving around on their bed. Karissa was sound asleep beside her so she stood up, her eyes landed on Serana. She walked over to her, sitting at the edge of the bed. 

"Serana... Serana wake up." Alessia lightly shook her shoulder, Serana sat up quickly and looked to Alessia. Her cheeks were wet with tears. "You were having a bad dream." 

"Sorry if I woke you." 

"It's fine. Do you want to talk about it?" Serana looked down, Alessia's hand was still on her shoulder. 

"It was of you, again. This time it was when we first met in Dimhollow. When we went against that draugr it still got you on your side. I wasn't able to save you this time, so I sat there, holding you, praying that you wouldn't die but you did." 

"They aren't always of when we were in the Chantry?" Serana looked over to Alessia, she looked concerned. 

"No just, random moments where you could of. Some of them are when you didn't even get hurt. You just somehow died in that moment." Alessia slid her hand down Serana's arm and grabbed her hand, it sent all to familiar chills to Serana. 

"I would say they get better over time but it isn't true. What I can say is that I'm here, next to you right now. I'm not laying dead in some random place we ventured through." 

"I know you're alive and here, but I just won't be able to forgive myself because I left you to die in one of those places." 

"Stop beating yourself up over it. While I'm trying to forgive you, please try to forgive yourself." 

"What were you and Lydia talking about earlier?" Alessia looked back to Lydia and Karissa, they were still sleeping. 

"We talked a bit about you, then about me." Alessia kept her gaze down on her hand that was holding Serana's still. 

"Oh?" 

"She said that when you told her that you reminded her of me when I had those nightmares. When we first got together they were bad, I would wake up crying and just needing someone to comfort me. She also said that when she left you were talking, not really to anyone since it was just you and her in the home but she said you were crying." Serana moved her hand from Alessia's as she looked over her shoulder. 

"Karissa is waking up." Serana laid back down in the bed and turned her back to Alessia. 

"What are you doing?" Alessia turned and got up, walking to Karissa. 

"Nothing we were just talking. I'm going to see if Arngeir is up so we can talk." Alessia out of the room, seeing Arngeir near the center of the place they first spoke. 

"Did you rest well, Dragonborn?" Alessia leaned against the wall and rolled her eyes at the title. 

"I'd prefer if you call me Alessia, but I slept okay I guess." Arngeir nodded and stood up, a blank expression on his face. 

He chose not to question why she preferred her name. "Have you heard of Jurgen Windcaller?" 

"It sounds familiar." 

"He is our founder. He was buried in Ustengrav northeast of Morthal. In that tomb is the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. Go retrieve it and come back, then we will recognize you as Dovahkiin." 

"Me and my friends will go then." Alessia turned to walk away but felt a hand lightly touch her shoulder. 

"Ustengrav, it will truly test you. Be true to the Voice and you will make it back here." Alessia walked back into the room to see Karissa and Lydia talking. She looked over to Serana to see she still had her back to them, but was awake. 

"What'd he say?" She sat down at the table with them, but for some reason she couldn't keep her gaze away from Serana. 

"I have to get the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller in Ustengrav." Alessia pulled out her map and looked at the marks written around the swampy areas between Morthal and Solitude. "It should be around here. Four days to get to Ivarstead, maybe another three or four to get there." 

"What are you going to do with it?" She turned her attention to Lydia, glancing between her and Serana. 

"Bring it back here. Arngeir said they would recognize me as Dovahkiin once I return with it." They stood up and began gathering their things. Lydia walked up to Alessia once they finished and motioned to Serana. 

"Go talk to her, we'll meet you by the doors." 

"Just start to Ivarstead. We can catch up or meet you at the inn." Alessia waited until she heard the doors shut to walk over to Serana. 

Alessia sat at the foot of the bed, thinking of what to say. Serana felt her on the bed but didn't move. She had a question for Alessia, one she didn't want to ask because she was scared about the answer. Yet she wanted to know. 

"You probably heard this but they left I told them we would meet them somewhere. What's wrong?" Serana moved to lay on her back, looking blankly at Alessia. 

"We should go, they probably haven't got that far." She went to stand up but Alessia kept her on the bed. 

"No, we will leave when you tell me what's wrong. You've been laying here not saying a word since I woke you up." 

"You love her don't you?" Alessia was taken back by this question. She looked at Serana with a shocked expression, her jaw was probably hitting the floor. She opened and closed her mouth to speak but couldn't find any words. 

"I... I uh... don't know. I mean she's been there for me and I care about her. You know what happened in Solitude, it wasn't the last time that happened." 

"I've been waiting for her to kill me ever since we left Whiterun." Alessia chuckled and looked up at Serana. 

"I told her not to." Serana let a light smile appear on her face. 

"You looked like you wanted to kill me in the castle and when I turned you in. Despite the part where I think you were flirting a bit." 

"That was before I saw you break down right in front of me in that jail. I thought you were going to flood the place with your tears. Then I saw how you couldn't even look at me when the Jarl was about to execute me. What changed it even more was what Lydia told me and then you told me about your nightmares." 

"Do you believe me now that I am sorry?" 

Alessia nodded, "yeah I do. I'm not going to apologize for the light flirting in Dragonsreach. I do sort of apologize for being an ass." 

"Sort of?" She nodded again, smiling at Serana. 

"Yeah just sort of." Serana laughed and placed her hand on Alessia's leg. She heard her breath hitch as soon as she felt the contact. "Uhh... Serana." 

"Sorry. I'll get my stuff together and we can go." 

"It's okay." Alessia stood up and walked out of the room and waited for Serana by the doors to High Hrothgar. 

Serana quickly walked to the doors, not saying a word as they walked out. 

* * *

"That's it, we are resting. I'm freezing." Alessia quickly walked over to a rock and sat down. Serana crossed her arms with a smile and walked over to the rock. 

"Would you like me to start a fire?" 

"No I'd like you to watch as I freeze to death." Alessia smiled as Serana sat next to her. 

"How are you cold?" Serana pulled out a blanket from her pack, glad that she brought it. 

"We are on the highest mountain and no fire and it's snowing. I thought you were so wise and that since you're older, if so you should have seen that." Alessia gladly took the blanket and tightly pulled it around her. 

"I'll start a fire." 

"How nice of you." Serana heard Alessia chuckle behind her as she walked to a small tree to get some wood. She set the pile down in front of Alessia and sat next to her but didn't light it. Alessia stared at her with a frown on her face. 

"Oh you want me to light it also?" Serana had a smirk on her face as she glanced between the pile of wood and Alessia. 

"Obviously." 

"I think you are capable of lighting a few twigs on fire." Alessia glared at Serana while she snapped her fingers, hoping for the fire to start. Serana laughed after a few seconds. 

"What?" 

"If you watched what you were doing you would see." Alessia looked over to see that there was no fire. "I can give you credit for making one little spark I guess." 

She said nothing, taking the dagger from Serana's waist and found a small rock. She walked back over to the fire, holding the rock close to a twig. With two strikes to the rock from the dagger she started a fire. She walked back to Serana with a smile on her face, placing the dagger back in its sheath, leaving her hand linger there for a few extra seconds. 

"I am capable of lighting a fire." 

"You're lucky you can, it might of been entertaining to watch you sit in the cold for a bit longer." Alessia smiled and shook her head before looking back to Serana. 

"I wasn't finished talking to you earlier, when I woke you up." Serana tilted her head as she met Alessia's eyes. 

"What else did you want to talk about?" 

"I was going to ask what you said after Lydia left, and who you were talking to." Serana looked off to the distance, she wasn't sure how to answer or even approach this. This time she felt a hand on her leg as she looked back to Alessia with a soft smile. 

"You, there were just some things I needed to say, get off my chest. At that moment I hated you but yet I still love you. I hated that you left me to finish this on my own, but now I realize you didn't. I love you because you always cared when no one else would and nobody was there for me. It was exactly three weeks after I left you and every single day, even until now I thought of you." Serana paused, trying to let the tears pass so she could continue. 

"You're okay, I'm here for you." She quickly wiped the tears and then continued. 

"It was hard to want to remember you because it brought me all this pain. I couldn't forget you because ever since you found me I spent every moment I could with you and it was to much to forget. After that, it was the real moment where I thought what was the point. You remember how I said I loved someone before the ritual and never saw her again?" 

"Yeah." 

"I knew I was losing her before I went through with it. The ritual was sort of my fresh start, sounds bad but it was true. My life was better once I met you and I thought it would last forever, but I was wrong. Nothing for me lasts forever, except my life I guess." 

"What was she like? If you're okay with talking about her." Alessia was glad to see Serana smile after she asked. 

"Her name was Runa. She had these amazingly blue eyes and blonde hair. I was always able to talk about my problems with her and she would listen carefully and say things that always made me feel better. You would've gotten along with her because you both have a terrible sense of humor." Serana smiled as she looked to Alessia, who also had a smile on her face. 

"She sounds nice. I do have a problem with one thing you said." Serana's smile fell but Alessia's stayed there. 

"What?" 

"I do not have a terrible sense of humor." Serana laughed and placed her hand on top of Alessia's which was still on her leg. 

"It could be better." 

"Better than having no sense of humor." 

"Are you implying I don't have a sense of humor?" 

"Of course not. I've met people with no sense of humor though." Alessia caught Serana quickly glance down at her lips before looking back up as they laughed. "I saw that." 

"Saw what?" Serana smirked, knowing exactly what Alessia was talking about. 

"Nothing." Serana leaned a bit closer to Alessia. 

"If it was nothing you wouldn't of mentioned it." This time Alessia nervously glanced down to Serana's lips. 

"I know." 

"Then what was it?" 

"I'm not telling you." Serana was about to say something but was interrupted by the one thing she missed the most with her. 

Alessia was finally kissing her again. 


	22. Chapter 22

Alessia woke up with a blanket wrapped tightly around her and an arm around her waist. She groaned once she fully woke up and realized what happened last night. The next thing she realized was that she was cold, her and Serana's clothes were laying in a messy pile and the fire was no longer burning. 

She got out from under the blanket, grabbing her clothes and quickly getting dressed. 

"Good morning." Alessia looked over and saw Serana sitting up with a smile. 

"Hey." Her gaze quickly fell elsewhere when Serana also began to get dressed. 

"About last night-" 

Alessia quickly interrupted her before she could continue. "We aren't going to talk about it, I don't want to." 

"We can't just ignore this Alessia." 

"Last night shouldn't of happened. Even if we still have feelings for each other, we need to move on. I shouldn't have kissed you, starting all this. I'm sorry." Serana grabbed her arm once she began trying to walk away. 

"Are you just going to run back down there to Karissa?" Alessia pulled her arm from Serana's grasp, looking at her with a stern expression. 

"I don't know what you want me to say." 

"The truth. Why is this so hard for you to be with me now?" 

"Because Serana, I'm still mad that you left me. You didn't even come back and check and see if I was even alive. Then you come back, stay in my home, and try to forget me. You did that to the point where you could have hurt yourself and others because you wouldn't go feed. I help you end things with your father like I said I would. I'm sorry for things I said after that. Not even two months later I hear that someone wants you dead, I take the contract, saying I will handle it. I could have easily killed you there but I didn't, I was going to protect you. All I get in return is spending two days in a prison and almost getting killed by the Jarl." Alessia took a deep breath, closing her eyes then looking at Serana. "I don't want to be with someone who told me that she loves me but does things that harm me." 

"What did you feel last night when you were with me?" Serana stepped closer, grabbing Alessia's hand. 

"Nothing." Alessia turned away and began walking back to Ivarstead, not caring if Serana had anything else to say. 

* * *

Two days later they reached the inn. Serana quickly caught up with Alessia after she left. They traveled in silence with distance between them. Alessia walked over to the table where Lydia and Karissa were. 

"I'm going to sleep for a bit and then we can go." 

"The first room on the left is the one I've been sleeping in." Alessia nodded and walked to the room Karissa had stayed in. 

Serana sat down next to Lydia and laid her head on the table. She looked up once she heard Karissa leave and walk to the room Alessia had went into moments earlier. 

"Let me guess, you two got into an argument." Serana snorted and looked over to Lydia. 

"After we slept together." 

"You two slept together?" Lydia turned to her, not caring to keep her voice down. 

"Be quiet, I don't want to give Karissa another reason to want to kill me. But yes, we did. She told me she felt nothing last night and didn't want to be with me anyway." 

"I don't think she's telling the truth. If she feels that way, why would she sleep with you?" 

"Ask her that, not me. She said she still has feelings though, which I don't get." 

"Exactly why I said she's not telling the truth." Serana slumped down into the chair, looking up to the ceiling. 

"She won't tell the truth. She told me she forgives me but I don't believe that, she told me she's still mad at me." Both looked over as they heard a door open, Alessia peaked her head out and looked over to them. 

"I can hear you guys. Serana we said we wouldn't talk about it." Serana rolled her eyes and stood up, walking over to Alessia. 

"You said you wouldn't talk about it, I didn't agree to doing the same." 

"Well you should have. I don't want to hear anything about what happened." Alessia shut the door before Serana could say anything. 

Serana walked to a room on the other side of the inn, laying down and going to sleep. 

Alessia was hesitant to tell Karissa what happened between her and Serana. She wasn't even sure if she should tell her. She knew it would be said at some point and it would be better if it was her who said it instead of someone else. After she spoke to Serana in the inn she figured Karissa would most likely ask questions. 

"I need to tell you something. You're probably going to be pissed at me after but it's better that I tell you before you hear from someone else." Alessia sat down in a chair across the room while Karissa was sitting on the bed. 

"Okay." 

"Me and Serana slept together the other night." Alessia didn't look up to Karissa as she quickly said what happened. 

"Is that why you told me and Lydia to go ahead and come here, so you two could get together?" She sounded annoyed, hurt too, Alessia looked up and saw that she had a blank stare at her. 

"No. I asked for you two to go ahead so we could talk." She moved so she was in front of Karissa, kneeling down and take one of her hands. "Please trust me, I didn't mean for it to happen. It was nothing to me." 

"Look me in the eyes and tell me that. You can never lie when you look me in the eyes." Alessia looked up and her and bit her bottom lip. 

"I felt nothing." Alessia averted her eyes away from Karissa before she said the last word. 

"I'm staying in another room." Karissa quickly got up and grabbed the few things she had with her and went to another room, slamming both doors behind her. 

Alessia laid down, trying to fall asleep. Her thoughts were scattered, as usual. She decided she wasn't going to fall asleep so she went to where Lydia is sitting. Lydia was smiling at her, clearly amused by what happened, as she sat down. 

"Heard you had a fun night two days ago." Alessia threw a piece of bread at her, making her laugh more. 

"I don't want to talk about it." Lydia leaned closer to her, keeping her voice at a whisper. 

"Don't lie to yourself about how you feel about her, I'm guessing Karissa wasn't to happy about it." 

"I have some feelings for her but they aren't like they were before. It was a stupid mistake. She's mad that I lied to her about something." 

"What'd you lie about? Don't lie to me cause I know what you do when you lie too." Alessia sighed, hating how easy it was for people to tell when she lies. 

"I told her I felt nothing that night. I said the same thing to Serana but she didn't realize." Lydia raised an eyebrow at her and smiled. 

"So you did feel something?" 

Alessia nodded, "it wasn't like the times before. I felt less but still felt something."

"You should tell her. Do you want her to continue being hard on herself for what she has done?" 

"No. I told her that I forgave her yet I'm still a bit mad. She should forgive herself." 

"Tell her how you feel and maybe she will forgive herself." Alessia sighed before responding. 

"What am I suppose to say to Karissa then?" Lydia glared at her for a few moments, thinking of what to say.

"Why did you even get with Karissa?" 

"She was into me and I saw her as a distraction from Serana." Alessia scratched the back of her neck before continuing. "Don't get me wrong she's pretty and all that but it wasn't like I was going to fall for her and marry her someday, she knew that too." 

"Alessia, what was the one thing you told me when you first started talking to me?" She shook her head no, allowing Lydia to continue. "You said you didn't want to be like your mother." 

Alessia clenched her jaw and stared down at the table. She felt anger, along with the tears forming in her eyes. She wanted to yell at Lydia, but she couldn't find the right words. It felt like hours before she finally looked up to Lydia, she quickly glanced to Lydia's right and saw that Serana was now there. 

"I'm not like her. Not even close." 

* * *

_Five Years Ago_

_Alessia woke up with a pounding headache, light shining directly into her eyes from her bedroom window. She groaned as she got up from the bed and walked the short distance to see her brother and sister sitting in the living room._

_"Alessia put on a shirt." She glared at her brother, then looking down to see she forgot to put on a shirt._

_Alessia walked back to her room and grabbed her shirt from a chair. She jumped a bit when she heard someone clear their throat. A woman around her age was sitting on her bed, a blanket wrapped around her body. Alessia raised any eyebrow at her, waiting for the woman to say something._

_"Usually when I spend a night with someone, they welcome me to breakfast or offer me more drinks."_

_"Here's the thing, I have a little brother and sister out there and I'm not going to explain why I have a random person with me. Last night was fun, the parts I remember, and it won't happen between me and you again." The woman laughed as she stood up from the bed, walking over to Alessia._

_"You said that the last three times we slept together." She smirked, kissing Alessia quickly then getting dressed. "I'll show myself out. If you see your mother, tell her I say hello. I'm sure she'll be glad to see her daughter is beginning to be a lot like her."_

_"Get out." The woman smiled, waving and then walking out of the small home._

* * *

Alessia glanced between Serana and Lydia, one had a small smile and the other was frowning. She kept her eyes on Lydia mostly, she seemed as if she was trying not to laugh. Most likely she had some sort of sarcastic comment. 

"What?" Lydia's smile turned into a frown, she sighed as she looked to Serana. 

"I'm not going to try to upset you but, your mother left you and your siblings. What do you do years later, you leave your siblings." Alessia looked to Serana, waiting to see if she had a comment also, and of course she opened her mouth seconds later. 

"You also slept around with Sapphire." 

"It happened twice." Alessia rolled her eyes at both of them. Lydia had a confused look on her face, Alessia quickly realized she never mention who Sapphire was. "I thought you were sleeping." 

"You two were talking away and I slept for like a few minutes." She noticed Alessia nervously look to Lydia. "I couldn't understand what you guys were saying, you were talking to quiet." 

"Who's Sapphire?" 

"Someone from the Thieves Guild." Alessia gave them both a look as if she was telling them to stop talking. 

"Can I ask you something?" Alessia looked to Serana, giving her a slight nod to continue. "What was it like after your mother left?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"How were you and your siblings after she left, like how did you handle it?" Alessia stared at her blankly, unsure of what to say. 

"They were to young to understand what was going on. I did my best to take care of them." 

"How did you handle it?" 

"Drinking once I got older. Forgetting what she did for the night." Alessia looked down to her hand that were resting on the table. "Fine, I'm like my mother. I hate it. After she left I would get drunk, find some random girl and sleep with her. One thing I would never do is hurt my brother and sister. That's the difference between me and her, when she was with us she wouldn't pay attention to them and it hurt them. Then she left us. I was still there for them when they needed me but when they when to sleep for the night I was at the inn drinking. The worst thing I've done to them was leave them and one day I'm going to go back to them and apologize for what I did. 

"I at least care, one thing she never did. They always asked why she was never home to tuck them in at night, read them a bedtime story. I never knew the answer, I asked myself that same question before they were born. They asked why she never even came home at night after she left. The only thing she told me was that she couldn't stand Bravil. I lied to them saying she would be back because I didn't want to hurt them. That was the night I knew I hated her." 

Alessia didn't realize till she buried her head in her arms that she had tears running down her face. She felt two hands on her, one on each arm, doing their best to comfort her. She heard footsteps approaching them, but she didn't look up. 

"Can we help you?" She heard Lydia speak, both hands left her arms. Still, she wasn't looking up. Someone chuckled, it wasn't Serana or Lydia. 

"I'm not here to speak to you two, I'm here to speak with her." Alessia felt the blood drain from her face. She only moved her one arm, her hand found its way to the hilt of her dagger that was strapped to her thigh. 

"I don't have anything to say to you, go away." Serana and Lydia glanced between each other, then to Alessia. 

"That's not how you speak to or about your mother." Alessia moved her hand from her dagger and stood up. She was taller than the older woman in front of her. Serana saw that she has the same green eyes that Alessia once had but had darker hair. They both had the same face, same nose, ears, and mouth. Lydia slowly stood up as Alessia took a step closer to the woman, looking down at her with anger. 

"Yeah well, you're not my mother." Lydia quickly moved between them as the older woman brought her hand to Alessia's cheek, a loud slap sounded across the inn. 

Serana pulled Alessia back, moving her hand from her cheek and seeing a red handprint on it. Alessia moved Serana to the side and approached her mother again. Lydia stopped her, placing her hands on Alessia's arms. 

"Move." Alessia's fiery eyes never moved from her mother's. Her mother didn't seem to be concerned by the fact that her daughter is a vampire. 

"I'm not letting you do anything stupid, so no." She tried to move from Lydia but she only tightened her grip. Lydia looked to the room Karissa was in and then back to Serana. She understood and walked over to the room and knocked on the door. 

"Why are you here?" 

"I told you the day I left you. I couldn't stand staying in Bravil." Alessia said nothing as she continued glaring at the woman that left her. Her gaze moved to Karissa as she walked out of her room and over to her. 

"What's going on?" She heard Serana whisper who the woman in front of them was. 

"Don't be rude, introduce your friends to me." Alessia smirked at her, then quickly looked around the inn to make sure nobody was paying attention the them. 

"Okay. This is Lydia, my Housecarl." She first nodded to Lydia that was standing between them. "The vampire is Serana, and that's Karissa, leader of the Dark Brotherhood." 

"Alessia you can't just go around telling people that." She looked back at Karissa quickly giving her a short glare. 

"Oh calm down, it's not like you are being to discreet about it. You're wearing our armor." 

"Our?" Alessia looked back to that her mother was raising her eyebrows to what she just said. 

"I'm with the Dark Brotherhood." 

"Alessia!" She shrugged her shoulders as she looked back to Karissa. 

"Can I speak to my daughter alone please?" 

"No." Everyone but Alessia answered at the same time, she kept her eyes on her mother. Serana cleared her throat behind them. 

"I don't trust you and Alessia to be alone together." 

"Why should I care what you have to say?" Serana moved so she was next to Alessia, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

"Me and Alessia may have some recent differences but," she paused quickly looking to Alessia then to Karissa before she continued, "I still love her and will always want what's best for her." 

She felt Alessia tense and her gaze dropped to her feet. Her mother scoffed and shook her head in disbelief. 

"Alessia, please tell me what I told you when you were younger. When I saw you and what you called your friend together." Alessia didn't pick her head up but Serana could tell she was even more annoyed and angry now. 

"A man is to love a woman and a woman is to love a man. If a woman were to love a woman and a man were to love a man, it would be wrong." Her mother smiled in approval to what she said, but Alessia wasn't done. "But I don't live by your words, I can love whoever I please. Since you wanted to know my friends for some reason, shall I introduce them even more?" 

"Wouldn't hurt to know who my daughter spends her time with." Alessia smirked as she looked up to her mother. She felt the other three glaring at her. 

"I don't know what you are trying to achieve with this Alessia." She turned to Serana and leaned over to whisper something to her. 

"I'm just trying to piss her off, show her I don't care what she thinks." Alessia looked back to her mother, a smile made its way back to her face. "I'll start simple, Karissa as I told you before, lately me and her have been sleeping together for about two months." 

"You can stop now I know where this is going." 

"You didn't let me get to the most important between the three of them. Serana and I met a few months ago and I quickly fell in love with her. I'm still in love with her." Serana looked at Alessia, she was speechless. Her mother looked beyond pissed and was also speechless. 

Lydia's hands fell from Alessia's arms and she took a step back, shocked by what she admitted. Karissa looked unaffected by what was said. Alessia looked first to Serana, giving her a smile before looking back to her mother. 

"Where are your brother and sister?" 

"Since when do you care about them?" Serana took a step closer to Alessia so she was sort of between the two women. 

"They're my children I have the right to know where they are." 

"Last time I saw them they were in Bravil." Her mother blankly looked at her before she had a questioning look. 

"When was that?" Alessia shifted her weight nervously as she looked at Serana. 

"Over a year ago." 

"You... you left them?" 

"Don't sound all hurt about it, you did the same exact thing. You left me to take care of them since they were born basically. You barely wanted anything to do with them. You didn't even name them." Alessia tried her best to move closer but Serana held her back, giving her a confused look at the time. 

"I thought you said she named them?" Alessia calm down a bit as she heard Serana's voice and looked to her. 

"I said that cause I was ten when I named them and those were the first names that came to mind." 

"I was in Bravil a few months ago, they weren't there. I went back looking for you three." 

"Don't come looking for us again." Alessia walked back and to the room she was previously in, Serana stayed in place along with Karissa and Lydia. 

"You should go before she comes out of the room." Alessia's mother nodded and quickly turned to walk out of the inn. Serana turned back to Lydia and Karissa, both staring at her with a shocked expression about what just happened. "I'm gonna go see if she's okay." 

Serana walked into the room and saw Alessia hastily writing on a piece of paper. The paper was wet with what seemed like tears from where Serana stood. She walked over to her and took the quill from her hand, placing it down on the table. 

"I-I, no, we need to find them." Serana placed both her hands on Alessia's cheeks, wiping her tears away with her thumbs. 

"Don't worry love, I said we will okay? I promise we will." Alessia quickly nodded as Serana pulled her into a tight hug. There was a knock on the door as Lydia and Karissa silently entered the room. 

They stood in silence waiting for Alessia to calm down. Minutes later Alessia pulled away from Serana and looked over to Lydia and Karissa. She waited for one of them to say something, not wanting to say the first words after what happened. Nobody spoke so she turned to Serana. 

"I'm sorry you had to meet my mother." Neither of them couldn't help but laugh a bit. 

"I think we may be even now since you had to meet my father." 

"I think so." Alessia looked to Karissa, giving her a small smile as she walked over to her. "I'm sorry that I lied to you. I'm also sorry that I can't love you like you want me too." 

"It's fine. I should be getting back home. I'll make sure everybody knows that there is no longer a contract on Serana. Also, I'm allowing you to leave which doesn't happen often. You can come back and get your things whenever you get a chance. Good luck with all those damn dragons." Alessia laughed as she hugged Karissa. 

"Stay safe." Karissa left after she said her goodbyes and shockingly hugged Serana with a smile on her face. 

"You know I thought you were gonna kill her or something." Alessia looked to Lydia and couldn't help but chuckle. 

"Trust me I thought about it a couple times." 

"You guys probably want to talk about what happened so I'll go. Leave in the morning?" Alessia nodded as Lydia exited the room, leaving her and Serana alone. 

"You saw what happened so we don't really have to talk about it. I do want to talk about one thing that was said though." They both sat down on the bed, Alessia nervously played with something on her pant leg. "It may not seem like it but I always get nervous around you. I try to hide it the best I can." 

"You are good at hiding it. There's no need to be nervous around me though." 

"There is. I said many things that hurt you that I shouldn't of said. I was scared to tell you that I still love you because of what might happen to us. I shouldn't be scared though because nobody is perfect and mistakes are bound to happen. We have both made mistakes and I think we can both admit to that. You are an exception to the nobody is perfect though. I'll always think you are perfect no matter what you do. I am sorry for what I have said and that I stayed away when you thought I was dead. It was the biggest mistake that I made that involved you." 

"Alessia I-" Alessia put a hand over Serana's mouth making her stop. 

"Let me finish. I forgive you for your mistakes. Now, I want you to forgive yourself. If you want I can give you the space so you can forgive yourself. Know that I love you so much and I couldn't be happier to love someone like you. I don't deserve someone as perfect as you." Alessia moved her hand so she was holding Serana's. "You can talk now." 

"You're also an exception to nobody is perfect. You are perfect in my eyes. I forgive you for not coming to me immediately because I know that you were also hurt. I'm sorry that I tried forgetting you. I now know that I never want to forget someone as amazing as you. Don't say that you don't deserve me, you deserve everything and much more after what you went through. You're the strongest person I ever met because you still go on with your life with a smile on your face when necessary. I love your smile, your laugh, and everything about you. I do miss those green eyes of yours though but if you still had those I wouldn't be able to wake up to you every single day." 

"You're making me cry again." Alessia laughed as she wiped the tears from her cheeks and then wiped away the ones that were on Serana's. 

"That's all you're gonna say?" 

"No I have some other things I wanna say but I needed a moment." Alessia wiped away a few more tears then began to speak. "I'm really glad you turned me into a vampire but I wasn't extremely satisfied until after you turned me. I realized then who chose me to help her save the world. You, Serana, are something else I swear. I never said this before so I'm gonna say it now, you're gorgeous. Simple as that. Looks and personality both. I want to spend the rest of my very long life with you. One day I hope to call you my wife. Before you say anything, yes I know you don't do weddings because you can't go into temples. We don't have to do traditional. I'll do whatever we have to do to one day marry you. We could get married in a tomb full or draugr for all I care, just as long as its with you." 

"Alessia?" She smiled at Serana, nervous for her response. 

"Yeah?" Serana smiled back, intertwining their fingers. 

"I'd be glad to marry you." 

"I don't mean to shut you down or ruin the moment but I wasn't exactly proposing at this moment." Serana laughed as Alessia quickly looked down to their hands. 

"I know. Hey." Serana put her fingers under Alessia's chin, moving her head up so she would look at her. "You better make the actual proposal something wonderful then." 

"Don't worry, I will." Alessia grabbed the collar to Serana's clothes and pulled her closer and kissed her. 

"I'm so in love with you." 

"I love you so much more." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for taking longer than usual to update. I was having trouble writing this chapter, unsure of where I wanted it to go. Gladly I figured it after my fourth try on writing this chapter.


	23. Chapter 23

"Remind me next time to not go with you to find some stupid thing in a ruin." Lydia sat down on stairs as Alessia looked at the arrow in her thigh. 

"Well next time remind me that you don't know how to have fun." Alessia put a hand around the arrow and another where the arrow had entered her thigh. 

"Ouch you asshole! Why didn't you tell me you were going to pull it out?" Serana laughed from where she was standing as Alessia threw the arrow to the side. 

"Imagine getting one pulled out of your stomach like that." Alessia squinched her nose as she smelled the blood, quickly closing the wound on Lydia's leg. 

"I've learned that it's better when you don't know when someone is pulling an arrow or dagger out of you rather than knowing when someone is going to." Alessia glanced around the area, three stone pillars were in the center and three gates blocked off the entrance to somewhere else. 

Serana noticed where she was looking and walked up to one of the small pillars. Alessia walked up behind and once she got near the one pillar it glowed red.

"What'd you do?"

"I didn't do anything." Alessia looked to another one of the pillars, it glowed red once she approached it. 

"The middle gate is open. These open the gates, only for you though." She looked and saw the middle gate was in fact opened and the pillar where Serana stood was no longer glowing. 

"I can only carry one of you. I think I know how to get through." Serana and Lydia looked between each other then back to Alessia. "One of you choose who's gonna come." 

"Serana can go. I'll meet you guys in Whiterun then we can go back to High Hrothgar." 

"Will you be okay? You were just hit with an arrow in the leg." Lydia stood up and limped a few steps toward them. 

"I'll be find. If it makes you happy I'll get a carriage ride from Solitude to Whiterun. Get back as soon as you can." She turned to Serana and gave her a small smile. "I heard some of your conversation last night, don't plan on getting married down here." 

"We aren't getting married anytime soon so we won't." Lydia slowly limped off the way the came, towards the entrance. Luckily they went through every are of the ruin up until now so nothing would come to harm her on her way out. 

"Do you think things between us are moving fast?" Alessia looked to Serana and smiled. 

"The things I said about us together wise, those were my feelings before things got bad. I'm trying to forget those things happened." She nervously walked over to the first stone pillar. "I'm not ready to get married just yet so it will be awhile. Remember we have forever." 

"What's this idea of yours?" Serana seemed upset about something, Alessia couldn't figure out what though. 

"Just get on my back, you might want to close your eyes." 

"Why?" 

"Trust me you probably want to." Serana didn't hesitate any longer and jumped onto Alessia's back. She tightly wrapped her arms and legs around her as they moved between the first two pillars. 

_"WULD NAH KEST"_

They quickly flew through the gates as they opened, closing once they were past them. Serana slowly stumbled off of Alessia and leaned against the wall. Alessia closed her eyes to rid the dizziness, one she was somewhat familiar to. 

"I feel like I'm gonna throw up." Alessia chuckled, opening her eyes and saw Serana sitting on the floor. 

"You'll get use to it." Serana's head shot up and she glared at Alessia. 

"Oh no. I'm not doing that again. One time was enough." Alessia held out a hand to help Serana stand up. 

She shook her head as they walked further on. The next room had a large brazier with a fire and the floor had a strange pattern on it. Alessia stopped as Serana continued on, stepping down on the patterned floor. Her eyes widened as she heard the sound of stone moving against stone. 

"What was-" 

_"WULD NAH KEST"_

Serana didn't have the time to turn before she felt Alessia's body hit her own and then her back hit something hard. Alessia turned back and saw fire coming from the floor they just crossed. 

"Thank you." Alessia looked back, breathing heavily. 

"Yeah, no problem. I need a moment." She stepped back and moved to lean against the wall to catch her breath. 

"You're not use to Shouting constantly like that are you?" Alessia shook her head no and looked to her side to see a chain and another gate. She pulled it and the gate lifted, allowing them to walk through. 

They walked through in silence, even as four things rose from the water. Dead draugr laid around them and what appeared to be a tomb. On the tomb, there was a piece of paper. Alessia grabbed it and quickly opened it, furrowing her eyebrows as she read it. 

"What is it?" She crumbled up the paper and threw it to the ground. 

"We came here for nothing. Delphine has the horn so we now have to go to Riverwood." Alessia began walking towards what appeared to be the exit with Serana following behind her. 

"How did she even get in here?" 

"I don't know. Let's just rest somewhere and then go get Lydia. I'm not excited about seeing Delphine again." 

* * *

They ended up resting in Solitude, in the same exact room that Serana first saw Alessia's face. Serana was currently laying in Alessia's arms on the bed. 

"I missed this." 

"Huh?" 

"Laying in your arms." Serana turned so she was facing Alessia. 

"Me too. You seemed a bit upset earlier today." She moved a few strands of hair behind Serana's ear, leaving her hand to rest on her cheek. 

"I did some thinking when we were traveling to Ustengrav. Just what I was thinking about popped back into my mind at the moment." Alessia frowned as Serana avoided looking at her. 

"It seems to upset you or something. Can you tell me?" Serana quickly met her eyes then looked somewhere else in the room. 

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." 

"Alright." Serana smiled and kissed Alessia. 

She intended it to be a quick kiss nothing else, but Alessia had other plans. Alessia moved on top of Serana, not breaking the kiss. Serana allowed it to continue until she felt Alessia's hands under her shirt. She broke the kiss and pulled Alessia's hands from under her shirt. Alessia gave her a confused look as she stayed on top of Serana. 

"We're doing things to fast, way faster than I want us to." Alessia moved from on top of her and sat next to her on the bed. "We made up like a week ago and like you said we have forever." 

"I thought you were upset because I said that." Serana shook her head and sat up. 

"No it's, I don't know how to explain it. I didn't even know what to think of it." Serana sighed, knowing she would have to attempt to explain what she was thinking. "You're mad at me one second saying you feel nothing then next you say you love me. I don't know if it was because you were pissing off your mother or what. What I said that night was completely true, I just don't know if what you said was. I was to caught up in the moment to think anything else of it." 

"Yes I was mad, but I felt something. It wasn't like before, not as strong of a feeling. What I said were my feelings and thoughts when you first told me you love me. I want to be with you though, it might be hard but it's what I want." 

"Alessia we aren't back in Markarth confessing our love to each other. We are here, at a time we both fucked us up. Right now what I see is someone who sleeps around and I hate to say that to you because I know it hurts you. I want to help you be better, better than her. When you told me how you were I was heartbroken because of how she affected you. Be honest, what are your feelings for me right now?" 

"I feel like I can love you again. I told Lydia the exact same thing, I feel less than I did before but the feelings are still there. If I tell you I really love you right now it's a lie. I can tell you that I like you enough that I want to love you again but it will take time. Me saying this probably hurts you. I want to be with you, and I'm willing to do things as slow as you need me to for us to be together." Serana smiled, slightly nodding to what Alessia said. 

"Very slow. This may sound selfish, but I want you to love me again and I will wait however long I need to." She moved back to where she was laying on the bed, her back to Alessia. She felt Alessia move to, her back facing Serana. 

* * *

Serana woke up to the sound of someone writing. A paper crumbled, falling to the ground and the writing began again. She looked over and saw a small pile of crumbled papers next to Alessia. She walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder and looked to see what she was doing. 

"Who are you writing to?" She didn't answer immediately, writing a few more words and then looking over the paper. She crumbled it and then turned to Serana. 

"I'm trying to write to my brother and sister, I just don't know what to say. I wrote one to someone I knew back there to ask if they knew about where they would be." Serana grabbed the journal Alessia was writing in and closed it. 

"Don't stress yourself to much. Send the letter to your friend and see what they have to say." Serana's eyes landed on the cover of the journal, a familiar symbol on it. 

"That could take months. It took me weeks to travel here, who knows how long it will take for a letter to get there and to get one back in response." Serana grabbed the journal, getting a better look at it. She moved the collar of Alessia's shirt to see the marking on her shoulder, the same one as on the journal. "Could I get that back please?" 

Serana shook her head no and opened the journal to the first page. A list of names filled that page, along with the next three pages. She quickly scanned over the names, stopping at one on the first page then another on the last. 

"Wide range of people you got here. Owner of an orphanage, a beggar, and then all the way to the Emperor of Tamriel." Serana closed it and threw it to the table. She knew Alessia had killed people but not so many. "There's a ton of people on that list Alessia." 

"I know." Serana closed her eyes and sighed for a moment, remembering things she had done in her past. 

"I'm going to try my best not to get mad right now." Alessia looked up at her with a confused look. "I was the one who basically led you to this." 

"Don't blame yourself. I choose to do this and I regret choosing to do it now. You can be mad all you want, but please, all I ask is that you don't blame yourself." Alessia picked up the journal, tearing out a few pages then throwing them into the fireplace. She walked back to the journal and tore out another paper and handed it to Serana. "Read it." 

"It's been a one week since I began taking contracts for the Dark Brotherhood. Five people, none that I know. In Whiterun I saw her and it was hard, I couldn't go up to her and kiss her or hug her." Serana looked up to Alessia, she was only looking down at her feet. "She's been on my mind every single moment. When I ran into her I was full of regret because I didn't immediately run back to her, I should have. I should have maybe even stayed because I had the money to avoid getting locked up. If I get the chance to see her again I want to apologize for leaving, yet I don't know if I should because she left me first." 

"You know I'm already sorry for what I said and what I did. I'll say it again though, I'm sorry." Alessia took back the paper and crumbled it before throwing it into the fire. 

"Why did you show me this?" 

"I want you to know that I'm being honest about regretting what I did. I always thought about what you would say about it and they weren't happy thoughts." 

Serana sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing her temple before looking at Alessia again. "That's it, from now on we are going to do our best to be normal. This conversation isn't normal." 

"Okay. We'll be normal now by going to get Lydia and back to our task of saving the world." Serana slightly laughed when she saw Alessia smile. 

"There's your terrible sense of humor." 

* * *

Serana and Alessia made it to Whiterun a few days later, choosing to walk instead of riding a carriage making them take a bit longer. As they entered the city they were carefully watched by the guards and some people who were doing their daily business. They entered Breezehome first to see if Lydia had went there but she hadn't. The next place they went to was Jorrvaskr. 

"I can already smell them from out here." Serana raised an eyebrow at Alessia as they neared the entrance. 

"Wasn't it you that said not to comment about how they smelled?" 

"Yeah but that was when I didn't have such an amazing sense of smell." Alessia walked to the door and opened it, allowing Serana to enter first. 

"How many times do we have to tell you that you can't come in here?" Serana rolled her eyes as Aela walked up to her. 

"I'm not in here to touch all your things or take anything, they smell like wet dog anyway. Where's Lydia?" Alessia groaned as she heard Serana and walked up behind her. 

"She doesn't mean to be rude we just needed to get Lydia and we'll be off." Aela crossed her arms and smiled once she saw Alessia. 

"She's downstairs. You can go get her but I'm going with you. Don't touch anything you guys also smell too. Nice to see you're somehow still alive." They followed her down a set of stairs and to what seemed like a sleeping area. She stopped outside a door and knocked on it loudly. 

"Took you two long enough to get here." Lydia stepped out of the room, laughing when she noticed the distance that was put between Aela and the two vampires. 

"We should go like right now. We have somethings to discuss." She nodded and followed them both out of Jorrvaskr and out the walls of the city. 

"You have the horn then?" Alessia nervously laughed before she spoke. 

"See about that, we have to make a quick stop in Riverwood. Specifically at the inn to see the person who was sending me all those letters when we lived together." She heard Serana giggle next to her when Lydia looked at them both seeming a bit annoyed. 

"We could have just gone to Riverwood to get it?" Alessia nodded as they continued to Riverwood. They spent the rest of the time telling Lydia what had happened in Ustengrav once she left and also their trip to Whiterun, leaving out a few details. 

They entered the inn, seeing Delphine standing at the counter. Alessia approached her and sat down at one of the stools in front of her. 

"You have good timing, I was about to send something to you that we needed to meet." 

"I'm not here to talk. I'd like the horn please." Delphine motioned for them to follow her, leading them through her room and downstairs. 

"I see you're actually doing something about being Dragonborn. There's no point in you going back to the Greybeards, they're just going to make you sit up there doing nothing. I can actually help you do something helpful." She shuffled through a few papers that were sitting on a table before picking up one. "I've mentioned about the Thalmor before to you." 

"Yeah, you have this crazy idea that they are the ones bringing the dragons back." 

"I need you and one of those two to infiltrate the Thalmor Embassy." 

"You're kidding right?" 

"I'm not. Elenwen the Thalmor ambassador holds these occasional parties for well known people in Skyrim." Delphine handed her the piece of paper, she quickly looked at it and saw it was an invitation to the party. 

"The Thalmor know about me being Dragonborn though. Also it would be weird for a vampire to be at a party." 

"Nobody has to know you are a vampire." Serana spoke up from behind her, a smile on her face. 

"I don't know if you've noticed but my eyes are bright orange." Serana shook her head and placed one hand over Alessia's eyes, she felt some weird feeling as she kept her hand there. 

"Look." Alessia took the dagger from Serana's hand, using it as if it is a mirror. She gave Serana a shocked look as she noticed her eyes were green like before. "Magic my mother taught me if she took me to a city, which never happened." 

"There, problem solved. The party is in a week so we should be off to Solitude." Alessia turned to Delphine and sighed. 

"We solved the eye thing but what about me being Dragonborn?" 

"That's what got you onto the invite list actually. You weren't on there originally but I have connections." Delphine grabbed a few things from a wardrobe and handed them to Alessia and Serana. 

"Oh no. I'm not wearing a dress." Alessia scrunched her nose as she looked at the dress. It was emerald green and seemed like it would go a bit past her knee. She looked over to what Serana was given, a black dress that was the same length as hers. 

"It's one night. My connection is in Solitude currently. We will meet with him and you will give him things like your armor and weapons, security is high at the embassy. He will sneak everything in for you to retrieve at any chance you get to sneak away." 

"Fine. As soon as we get back here though you're giving me the horn and I'm going my own way." Alessia stomped up the stairs, shoving the dress and shoes she was given into her pack. Everyone got onto the carriage and they began their trip to Solitude. 

* * *

Alessia slowly walked up to a bedroom, she was unable to sleep on their trip due to Delphine talking the whole time. She stopped at the door to the room, watching Serana walk into her own, she gave Alessia a small smile before shutting the door. 

"What's going on between you two?" Alessia turned as she heard Lydia whisper behind her. They both walked into the room to speak. 

"There's nothing going on." 

Lydia shook her head, "there has to be something going on." 

"No, the thing is that there is nothing going on between us." Alessia began to take her gear off as Lydia stayed silent, sitting down in the chair across the room. "Don't act like you have nothing to say." 

"Okay. What happened then?" 

"I told her the complete truth. My feelings aren't as they were before, I don't love her right now but I believe I can at some point in the future. She told me that we would take things really slow because she wants me to love her again." Lydia groaned and slumped back into the chair. 

"I'm gonna be dead by time you guys get together then." Alessia glared at her, Lydia only shrugged her shoulders. "I give you guys five years before you both admit that you can't handle not being together then." 

"Two years. Now get out I wanna sleep." Lydia walked out of the room leaving Alessia alone to use the last day before going to the Thalmor Embassy to sleep. Early in the morning they were to meet Delphine's friend. 

* * *

"I don't trust a random guy with my weapons. My armor, that's okay I don't really don't like this one but it's all I got for now." Delphine sighed as she waited for Alessia and Serana to meet with Malborn, her contact. 

"Stop complaining, go change into the clothes I gave you and bring your stuff. We will be sitting right here." Both quickly walked up to their separate rooms and changed, Alessia made it back down first. 

"I don't know about this, don't you have some fancy pants and shirt I could-" Alessia stopped, her mouth hanging open as she saw Serana walking down the stairs. "Wow." 

"You're wearing the dress. Did you put the things you don't need in your rooms?" 

"Uh y-yeah. This is what I do need." Alessia placed her things on the table and then realized the Bosmer man sitting at the table across from Delphine. 

"Delphine told me you were worried about your weapons, you don't have to. They'll be kept safe where you can get them." He grabbed her things and then took Serana's as she approached. 

"They better be." 

"I'll see you both at the party in a few hours then." Malborn left the inn, leaving the three alone to talk. 

"I'm sending both of you earlier than most guests would arrive, make it seem as if you both are actual guests and interested in being at the party." Delphine slid a ring over to each of them, Alessia gave her a confused look while Serana picked it up and looked at it. 

"What are these for?" 

"Well it would make more sense if you brought Serana along because you two are happily married. It will also make good conversation too." Alessia looked over to Serana, she slowly put the ring on and looked over to her. 

"Hazel?" Serana furrowed her eyebrows before she realized what Alessia was talking about. 

"Yeah." 

"They're nice." 

"Thanks." Serana looked down at the table and Alessia turned her attention back to Delphine. 

"Anyway, just say you've been married for a few months and that's it. Get into Elenwen's sleeping quarters and look around for anything suspicious." Alessia nodded and messed around with her hair to make it look just a bit better. 

"What happens if we get caught or someone gets suspicious before we even try to look for anything?" Serana looked up to Delphine, Alessia thought there was an obvious answer to that question. 

"You'll be dead or kept prisoner by the Thalmor. Alessia might be kept prisoner but I don't think they would kill her. We should leave soon, we have to get the carriage." They stood up and began walking out of the city. 

Both Alessia and Serana received weird glances from people since were wearing fancier clothes than those that normally walk around Solitude. Near Katla's Farm they got onto a carriage that Delphine arranged for them to take. She gave them a few more tips on what they are looking for and how to get it before they were off. 

When they arrived at the Thalmor Embassy they were stopped by a few guards, some searching the carriage and others searching Alessia and Serana. After the guards finished they showed them to the to the entrance. They entered to find a few people already there, but not many. Malborn was standing behind a counter serving drinks to the guests. They were approached by an Altmer woman dressed in what looked like expensive Thalmor robes. 

"Welcome to the Thalmor Embassy, my name is Elenwen. I don't believe we've met before." 


	24. Chapter 24

"Welcome to the Thalmor Embassy, my name is Elenwen. I don't believe we've met before." Alessia thought she seemed somewhat familiar but chose to ignore the thought right now. 

"I'm Alessia and this is Serana. It's a really nice place you got here." She heard Serana quietly chuckle next to her before Elenwen looked to her. 

"Alessia, as in the Dragonborn?" 

"That's me." Elenwen smiled and turned to Malborn. 

"Get us some wine. Please, come sit. I would like to speak to you. It's not an everyday thing that someone gets to speak with the Dragonborn." She led them to a table in the back of the large room.

Both sat across from her, Alessia moved uncomfortably in the chair until Serana kept looking at her through the corner of her eye. They were given a cup of wine, Alessia quickly brought the cup to her mouth to avoid speaking. Serana raised an eyebrow as she set down the now empty glass. 

"Don't drink to much, it will be weird when everyone is drunk and we aren't." Serana leaned over as Alessia was about to pour herself another glass, she stopped and placed her hands on the table. 

"I heard stories about you, coming to Skyrim at the same time as the dragons started appearing. You came from Cyrodiil correct?" 

"Yes. About a year ago I came here." Elenwen nodded as she took a quick drink from her cup. She then turned to Serana. 

"How do you know our Dragonborn?" Serana smiled while Alessia clenched her jaw. 

"We are actually married." Alessia heard the hesitance in her voice when she spoke. Elenwen nodded and smiled at the both of them. 

"Nice to see people are finding love in these times. I should go be a good host and greet the other guests, maybe later on we can speak again." 

Elenwen stood up, leaving Alessia and Serana alone at the table. Alessia stole a couple glances over to Serana but she never noticed, keeping her gaze down at her hands on the table. 

Serana couldn't think of anything to say to Alessia at the moment. She wanted to kill the awkward silence somehow. Ever since their conversation in Solitude all they've had was awkward silence. 

She finally looked over at Alessia once she bagan tapping her fingers against the table. Alessia looked at her and stopped. 

"Sorry." Serana said nothing but kept her gaze to Alessia. She didn't even pull her gaze away as Malborn approached them and filled their cups. 

"Wait for the distraction and meet me behind the bar, I'll let you slip through and get your things." She was about to ask what distraction but instead she was pulled up from the chair by Alessia. 

Serana felt Alessia's hand in hers as they walked through the crowd to an area near the bar. Alessia didn't let go of her hand as she scanned the crowd. She finally turned back to Serana after a few moments. 

"You know it's funny," Alessia smirked as she moved a bit closer to Serana, "you say you aren't a princess but you look like one in that dress." 

"I thought you were over calling me that." Alessia shrugged her shoulders and looked back to the crowd. 

A fear few minutes later they both watched a clearly drunk man walk up to a Thalmor guard. He said nothing, nor did the guard, but the man punched him out of nowhere. Multiple guards moved towards them while guests watched the commotion. 

"Let's go." Alessia pulled her behind the bar and through a door. They passed through a kitchen to what seemed to be a storage closet. Alessia locked the door behind them. 

She moved over to a chest that was placed on a small shelf, going through it and pulling out her and Serana's belongings. They quickly changed and grabbed their weapons before heading through the next door. 

"Do you know where to go?" Alessia glanced around the hallway, an open door to their left. Three heartbeats were heard there, one upstairs and two very close to the door, most likely guards Serana thought. 

She noticed Alessia disappear next to her then felt a hand on her arm so she did the same. They slowly crept past the door, being careful to not make any type of noise. They came to a door, Alessia slowly opened it enough for them both to slip through into the coldness outside. 

Guards were positioned everywhere, some on the walkways and some where multiple carriages were sitting in the front. Alessia still had a hand on Serana and began pulling her to another building. They easily passed the guards and made it to the door, quickly opening and closing the door. 

Alessia dropped her invisibility as soon as they entered. A guard was directly in front of them and there were two others in another room. The guard didn't have time to react before a dagger was thrown to his heart.

Serana stayed back as Alessia grabbed her bow and walked a bit forward. She let loose two arrows before slinging it over her back. 

"This has to be where whatever we are looking for is." Alessia pulled the dagger from the chest of the Thalmor guard and placed it back in its sheathe on her thigh. 

They began searching around but found nothing suspicious. Serana walked into the next room and immediately noticed a chest sitting behind a large desk. Inside she found a few papers about dragons, a key, and two dossiers. 

"I found a thing about Delphine and another about an Ulfric Stormcloak." Alessia came over and took both dossiers from her, quickly scanning through them. 

She quickly closed the one about Ulfric Stormcloak and placed both into her pack. She then took the paper and key from Serana, quickly scanning over the paper. 

"They don't know anything about dragons." Serana followed her as she walked through a doorway to the left and done a set of stairs. 

She noticed Alessia was a bit tense after reading through the dossiers. They walked through a door and found what looked like a torture chamber. Serana could easily smell the fresh blood and heard the two heartbeats in the room. 

Alessia quickly walked downstairs and took out the guard. Serana followed her to another chest, finding another dossier about someone named Esbern. They walked over to a cell where a man was being held. 

"Etienne?" Serana raised an eyebrow as the man looked up upon hearing Alessia's voice. 

"Alessia, it's shocking to see you here. You're not working with them are you?" Alessia noticed he sounded a bit scared when he asked, she quickly shook her head. 

"No I'm trying to get information from them." She unlocked Etienne and helped him up. "Do you know anything about this Esbern guy?" 

"He's been hiding out in Riften, that's all I know. Stays to himself and doesn't bother people." 

"We should get out of here before any Thalmor come." Alessia walked over to the guard and took a key from his body. She walked over to what seemed like a trap door and opened it for Etienne and Serana. 

She followed behind them, cringing at the strong scent of the area. They continued on in silence through the small cave. 

Alessia was glad that the cave was small, she was beginning to get annoyed by always finding herself in large ruins and caves. Her and Serana were greeted again by the cold air of Skyrim. Etienne shivered as soon as a breeze hit them. 

"Here take this." Alessia handed him a thick shirt along with a small dagger from her pack. 

"Thank you. Are you headed back to Riften?" 

"No, Solitude. How long were you there?" He tilted his head in thought and then began counting on his fingers.

"I don't know, but many months I'm guessing." Alessia nodded her head in response before speaking.

"Well I can catch you up a bit, I left the Guild and Brynjolf is now in charge. Who knows what's going on there now." 

"You left?" 

"Yes. I had bigger things to handle at the time and felt that they should be run by someone who can devote their whole time there." 

"I see what you mean. It was nice seeing you for this short period of time but I should be heading back. Maybe we will cross paths again sometime." Alessia smiled at him before he walked down the stoned path to Riften. 

Alessia and Serana began walking back to Solitude. They stayed a bit off the road in case anyone came looking for them. Alessia knew that soon the Thalmor would be after them both and wouldn't stop until they are caught. 

Once inside Solitude they quickly rushed into the inn, finding Delphine and Lydia sitting silently at a table. Delphine immediately stood up and dragged both of them off to her room with Lydia following them. 

"So?" Alessia pulled out the three dossiers and the papers to hand to Delphine. 

"They know nothing. Just like us." Delphine flipped through the three dossiers, a shocked expression reaching her face when she read the last one. 

"I know someone who will." 

"The guy that's been missing?"

Delphine nodded, "he's a Blades Archivist. Also a friend of mine, I can't believe he's still alive and they haven't found him." 

"Etienne, a friend of mine was being held there. He said he is in Riften, not exactly sure where though." Delphine began to pace around the small room, Serana and Alessia watched her for a few minutes before she turned to them. 

"The Ratway Warrens, he has to be there. Do you know how to get there?" 

"I know my way around most of the Ratway." Delphine gave her a confused look then shook her head. 

"I'm not going to ask. Get a bit of rest, not long though. We need to get there as soon as possible." Alessia walked out of the room with Serana following her. 

She was about to enter her room but stopped when she grabbed the door knob. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Serana just approaching the door to her room. Alessia took a deep breath before turning to her. 

"Serana?" She perked her head up to Alessia, leaning against the door. "Could you... can you uh... I need you to stay with me tonight. Please?" 

Serana sighed, looking down when she saw Alessia's pleading look. Something must have been bothering her she thought, yet she wasn't going to ask. 

She nodded and followed Alessia into the room. They quickly changed and laid down on the bed, Alessia with her head on Serana's chest. 

"I'm sorry we don't have the time to work on us." Serana sighed and began to rub Alessia's back. 

"Don't apologize. I understand why we don't have that time because I'm here with you every moment of it. Get some rest please." Alessia snuggled closer to Serana, falling asleep quickly. 

They woke up to a loud knock on the door. Alessia was the first to move from the bed so she opened it, Delphine on the other side. 

"Find your friend we need to get going." Alessia rubbed her eyes and nodded then stretched. 

"She's in here, we'll get ready." Yawning, she shut the door and walked over to where she had her armor. 

Both slowly got dressed and made their way downstairs. Delphine was tapping her foot against the ground with her arms crossed at the front door. Alessia rolled her eyes and walked past her out of the inn. 

She wasn't in a good mood, not since reading the things in Ulfric's dossier. It brought back bad memories she has tried to forget for over a year. 

The day played over and over in her head the whole trip to Riften. She didn't care what everyone else was talking about at the moment, or even what was happening around her. She kept her hood up, mostly due to the sun. Her eyes stayed staring at the trees that they passed along the road. 

Alessia was brought out of the memory when she heard her name being called and a hand on her shoulder. 

"We're at Riften, Lydia and Delphine are already inside the inn." She glanced around and saw that the carriage stopped outside the city stables. 

"Okay." 

"Are you okay?" She looked back to Serana and saw she was clearly concerned. 

"Yeah I'm fine." 

Alessia knew that Serana could tell she wasn't, she was waiting for her to ask more as they entered the city. 

Instead they walked in silence down the street. Alessia kept her eyes forward, a few kids were running around in the grassy area in front of the orphanage. Her eyes moved to two taller kids, standing with their backs facing them, a girl and a boy. Alessia stopped in immediately, not taking her eyes from them. She noticed Serana stop next to her, looking concerned once again. 

Alessia only shook her head and continued walking to the entrance to the Theives Guild. They entered, multiple people staring at them, few smiling at Alessia but she didn't smile back. Alessia led them to what Serana remembered as the Flagon from the previous visit. As soon as they entered Sapphire immediately approached them. 

"You're not a member of the Guild, you shouldn't be here." Alessia gave her a dirty look before walking past her up to the man behind the counter. 

"Do you know of a man named Esbern hiding out in the Warrens?" The man shrugged his shoulders as he wiped down the counter. 

"Why should I tell you anything?" Alessia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 

"Vekel, you know me. I haven't in the greatest of moods for the past two weeks, don't add to it. Just tell me if he's in the Warrens or not." 

"What do I get out of telling you?" Alessia rolled her eyes and placed her hands on the counter. 

"If you don't tell me I won't hesitate to beat it out of you." Serana walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

"Calm down, let me." She looked up to Vekel and smiled. "Look this guy, he's in trouble and we are here to help him. If you know where he is it would help us both if you tell us." 

Serana smiled bigger at him, he looked at her, a bit scared since she flashed her fangs. He then nervously glanced between her and Alessia. 

"He's in the Ratway Warrens, good luck talking to him though." 

"Thank you." Serana pulled Alessia to the side and waited for her to lead the way. 

She led them through a door and to a poorly lit area. As soon as the door shut behind them Serana stopped and crossed her arms. 

"Were you really gonna fight him?" Alessia smiled a bit and shrugged her shoulders. 

"Wouldn't be the first time." 

They barely made it a few feet into the Warrens before they ran into Thalmor. Though they weren't much of a challenge to the two vampires they weren't excited to know they were looking for Esbern. To Serana the place seemed like a maze but Alessia clearly knew her way around and they found themselves in a well lit area with multiple doors. 

Serana heard a woman speaking, repeating the same things over and over again. As they passed by each gate or door Alessia would peak into them until they made it to a locked door. She sighed as she looked at it, to many locks to pick and most likely some locks that could only be unlocked from the inside. 

So she knocked on the door, a small window slid open showing an older man. "Go away." 

"Esbern open the door." He shut the small window but Alessia could hear he didn't move away from the door. 

"That's not me, you are mistaken." His voice was muffled behind the door. Alessia rolled her eyes as she became impatient. 

"Delphine sent us." 

"Delphine?" His voice was a bit shocked but he quickly cleared his throat. "Ah, I don't know a Delphine." 

"By the Gods you old coot, I'm the Dragonborn and Delphine sent me and my friend to find you." The small window opened again, he quickly glanced between Alessia and Serana. 

"She's alive?" Alessia nodded and went to grab something from her pack, a piece of paper. 

"If you don't believe me this is from her. She sent it to me awhile back." She handed the paper to him through the small slot. He took it and quickly read it then handed it back to her. 

"Give me a minute and let me open the door so we can speak." The slot closed and metal clanked together. Minutes later the door opened and they walked through, Esbern locked the door behind them. 

"We can't talk that long, we ran into some Thalmor on the way here." 

"Delphine keeps fighting even when I tell her things are hopeless." He crossed his arms and shook his head as Alessia looked to Serana and shrugged her shoulders. 

"Hopeless?" 

"Did you never read the prophecies or books? Young people." Serana snorted as Alessia chuckled. "Alduin has returned, just as they said. The one that devours the souls of the dead. It's all a means to an end, all we can do is wait for and watch our doom approach." 

"Yes I know Alduin, he's the one bringing back the dragons. Saved my life once to." The last sentence was barely a whisper but Serana heard it and raised an eyebrow. 

"Yet some don't understand, the world will end, Alduin has returned so it's only time before it truly ends. Only the Dragonborn can stop him and none have shown up." Alessia rolled her eyes then looked at the man in annoyance. 

"I said moments ago that I was Dragonborn, did you not hear?" 

"Oh! You're the Dragonborn?" Alessia brought her hand to her forward and turned her back to him. 

"Yes, I'm the Dragonborn. I said it moments ago and it stated in that letter from Delphine that I am." He let out what sounded to be a sigh of relief as Alessia looked back to him. 

"Then it's not hopeless. If you don't mind me asking, I've noticed you and your friend are vampires. How old are you." 

"I'm only 25, she's an old lady though, thousands of years old." Serana playfully hit Alessia on the arm, earning a laugh from her. 

"Okay then. We must go quickly and speak with Delphine. Let me grab a few of my things and we can be off." Esbern walked off and began going through his things. Alessia looked to Serana and saw her glaring at her. 

"What?" Serana rolled her eyes and smiled. 

"I'm not an old lady." Alessia smiled and nodded. 

"Whatever." Esbern walked back over to the door and began unlocking it. 

"I've got everything. Where is Delphine?" 

"She's here in Riften. Said she has a place we can stay at safely." He nodded and opened the door, immediately they were greeted by Thalmor. 

Esbern went on about Alessia being Dragonborn the whole trip back. She was actually relieved whenever a group of Thalmor would attack them just for the fact that he would be quiet. 

When they reached the Flagon Alessia quickly led them through the Guild so nobody would speak to them. She led them to a home that was in the front corner of Riften, knocking on the door twice. Lydia opened it and allowed them inside. 

Alessia watched Esbern and Delphine greet each other for a few moments before she stepped out of the home. Serana watched her leave but didn't follow, she has been tense for awhile and she didn't want to pry so she wouldn't anger her. 

She walked into one of the many bedrooms and sat down on the bed with her back against the wall. Not much later she thought of something, Alessia got upset after reading one of the dossiers, Ulfric Stormcloak's. She walked into the living area and saw Delphine and Esbern speaking, she cleared her throat as she approached them. 

"Delphine, could I see the dossier on Ulfric Stormcloak?" She nodded and handed it to her. Serana walked back into the room. 

She slowly read through it, finding nothing. Only information of his past and something about a dragon being in Helgen where he was suppose to be executed. She shut it and set it down on the stand and walked out of the home. 

After searching around for a bit she found Alessia leaning against a wooden post with her head down. She looked back to Serana as she approached, her cheeks were stained with tears. 

"What's going on?" This caused new tears to stain Alessia's cheeks but she quickly wiped them away and leaned against the railing next to her. 

"I wish I could just take a break from everything. We could live in the middle of nowhere with nobody to bother us, but no I just had to be the one to save everybody." Serana wrapped her arms around Alessia's waist and placed her chin on her shoulder. 

"We can have that someday you know." 

"I want that mostly because I can avoid my past, last week it came up again out of nowhere. It was one of the things I was finally forgetting." 

"What was it?" Alessia turned so she was facing Serana, leaning her back against the railing. 

"When I was leaving Cyrodiil I got caught up in an Imperial Legion blockade thing. It was near Helgen that they got me along with multiple important Stormcloaks I think, one being Ulfric Stormcloak. I tried explaining things but they wouldn't listen, so there I was off to Helgen to my death. They executed some impatient guy first, then there was this loud sound, a dragon, Alduin. They called me up next and we all heard it again. As I got to the block and the guy who was doing it lifted his ax Alduin landed on the nearest keep and knocked him over. Barely anyone made it out alive including me. Good welcome to Skyrim I guess." 

"That's why you got upset when reading the dossier, cause it mentioned Helgen." Alessia looked down to Serana and raised an eyebrow. 

"You read it?" 

"Yeah I'm sorry I did. I was just curious why you were so upset." Alessia shook her head and pulled Serana into a hug. 

"It's okay, I probably wouldn't have told you without you being curious and asking." Serana was about to say something but she felt someone pull on her cloak. She looked and saw a young boy looking up at her and Alessia. 

"Uh hello?" The little boy smiled at them both and looked over to Alessia. 

"I remember you. In Rorikstead, the Dragonborn." Alessia smiled and crouched down so she was at the same height as the boy. 

"You do?" He nodded his head at her before looking back to Serana. 

"Who's she." Alessia laughed as he whispered to her, hoping Serana wouldn't hear. 

"That's Serana, she helped me in Rorikstead." She kept her voice down too as she looked up at Serana. 

"Keeping secrets from me?" Serana crossed her arms and smiled at them. 

"Maybe." She looked back to the little boy who was still smiling. "I'll tell you a secret. I think she's really pretty, and I really like her. One day I'm gonna hope to finally call her my wife." 

"I hope you do. I hope I find a pretty girl like her." Serana tried not to laugh, she was honestly shocked to see how good Alessia was with little kids. Then again she shouldn't since she has a little brother and sister. 

"I'm sure someone like you will." The boy laughed and turned away from them, running off to the area where the kids were playing outside. 

"Aw you think I'm pretty?" Alessia laughed as she stood up and looked at Serana. 

"I think you're hot but I wasn't gonna say that to a little kid." She watched as the boy approached two older kids, the ones Alessia saw earlier as they went to the Guild. 

They turned so they were facing the boy and began talking with them. Alessia felt a surge of shock and nervousness, along with happiness. Serana was speaking but she tuned her out and took a step closer to where they were. She stopped when she felt a hand on her arm. 

"Alessia. We should get back to Delphine, see what they talked about." Alessia shook her head no, keeping her eyes on the two teenagers. 

Serana followed her gaze to the three and let out a sigh. She stepped in front of her and smiled, Alessia didn't look down at her though. 

"I know you're probably missing them but we should go." Alessia quickly glanced down at her before looking back up. She saw the little boy point over to them, both teenagers looked over to her and Serana. 

The boy had a shocked expression. The girl made eye contact with her but quickly looked away. He then looked over to her and she said something to him. Both stood up from where they were sitting and walked inside the orphanage, the boy looked back once more with a blank expression. Alessia didn't notice the tears until she felt Serana wipe them away. 

"That was my brother and sister." 


	25. Chapter 25

"Alessia think this over before you do anything."

"There's nothing to think about, they're my brother and sister and stuck in an orphanage because of me."

Alessia and Serana were currently in a bedroom in the house. Serana basically had to drag her there after seeing her brother and sister. She was unsure of how Alessia was reacting to seeing them.

"We can't just drag them along with us. We are fighting dragons and that's dangerous for two teenagers to be taking part of." Alessia was pacing around the small room, occasionally stopping to shoot a glare at Serana.

"Serana I have to do something. What if once everything is over they aren't their anymore because someone adopted them? What if it takes to long and they get out because of their age?" Serana let out a sigh of defeat, nothing against Alessia and her siblings, but she still didn't want the two come with them.

"Let's go speak with them at least. I don't want to upset you but they may not be all to happy to see you."

"I won't be shocked if they aren't."

Serana led Alessia to the Honorhall Orphanage. Alessia stopped at the door and stared at it for a few minutes. She brought her shaking hand up to it and quickly knocked. Not much later a woman opened the door with a smile which quickly dropped when she looked at both Alessia and Serana's eyes.

"Can I help you?" Alessia stared at her blankly, not intending on saying anything. Serana stepped forward and smiled.

"Sorry about her. We were hoping to see two kids here. Arden and uh..." Serana looked over quickly to Alessia, she still had the same look on her face.

"Arden and Aeron." The woman gave them an apologetic smile while she walked out the door, shutting it behind her.

"We don't really allow anyone to just visit anymore. If you haven't heard the previous headmistress was murdered when a visitor came awhile back."

"I know. Arden and Aeron, they're her siblings." The woman glanced to Alessia then back to Serana.

"They never mentioned an older sibling." The woman's eyes got wide as she looked at Alessia again. "You're the Dragonborn. Please, I apologize, come in."

They followed the woman into the orphanage. She led them to a table and had them sit down before offering them something to drink which they declined.

"I'll be right back. My name is Constance Michel is you need anything."

"Thank you." She walked away, leaving them in silence. Serana looked to Alessia and placed her hand on top of hers, giving it a comforting squeeze. "It'll be okay."

"We'll see."

They waited a few moments before they walked into the room where they were, Alessia immediately stood up. Her brother was the first to give her a hug while her sister stood a bit back. Serana noticed she looked a bit like Alessia except her hair was a bit darker. Her brother also had the same darker hair, both had the same green eyes.

Alessia pulled away from her brother and looked to her sister. She had no emotion on her face, Alessia noticed and her smiled dropped. Her sister walked to the table and sat down across from Serana. Her brother soon followed and sat down next to her as Alessia sat next to Serana.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Alessia was awkwardly glancing between Arden, Aeron, and Serana. Serana eventually looked at her with a glare, kicking Alessia's foot as if telling her to say something.

"I don't know what to say." Alessia whispered under her breath so only Serana could hear.

"Say anything, I don't know. Introduce me to them if it gets you guys talking."

"Arden, Aeron, this is Serana. She's a really good friend of mine." Alessia sighed and looked at both her siblings. "I'm sorry this is awkward. I don't know what to say."

"I wonder why." Alessia's sister kept her voice low, assuming that neither her or Serana could hear.

"Look, I don't expect you to forgive me. I'm sorry about being like her though, getting drunk at nights but I do care about both of you. And yes, I know why this is awkward, you don't have to say anything about it. I want to make that year and few months up to both of you, yet now isn't great timing."

"What have you been doing since you got here?" Arden smiled slightly to Alessia as she looked to him.

"Can we talk somewhere more private and quiet? There's children yelling in the next room and it's sort of annoying." Her brother nodded as he stood up. Alessia walked over to where she saw Constance go and knocked on the door.

"Everything okay?" Alessia nodded and looked back to her brother and sister, Arden was speaking with Serana while Arron was staring blankly at them both.

"Yes. I was wondering, since they are my brother and sister, can they come with me?"

"Go ahead, they are family."

"Thank you." 

Alessia and Serana led them out of the inn and over towards Delphine's place. They were silent on the way there and silent as they entered. 

"We need to talk Esbern found something." Delphine immediately approached them, her eyes then traveled to the two teenagers as she spoke. "Who are they?" 

"My brother and sister. Whatever you two need to speak about with me needs to wait a bit." Alessia walked past her with the three following her to the bedroom. Her siblings sat down on the bed while Alessia and Serana sat in the chairs facing them. 

"You asked what I've been doing here, it's a long story I guess. When I first got here I was almost executed for something I didn't do but I was saved by a dragon that came to the town I was at. Later found out I am Dragonborn." Arden smiled at this and interrupted her. 

"I've heard stories about you while I've been here. That little boy, you saved him from a dragon at a small village here." 

Alessia nodded, "not everyone was saved sadly. He must have been stuck in the inn. Anyway, after I found out about it I didn't really care, not wanting to take part in killing dragons really. I did become Thane of Whiterun because of it." 

"Are you still Thane after everything that happened?" Alessia only shrugged her shoulders at Serana's question, then turned her attention back to explaining. 

"I went to the Thieves Guild and quickly became the Guildmaster, which I no longer am. I spent many months after that staying in Whiterun with someone named Lydia who you will meet soon." Alessia turned to Serana and leaned over to whisper something to her. "How do I explain how we met and how Harkon basically wanted to kill everyone?" 

"I'll explain." She turned to Arden and Aeron, only Arden seemed interested in what was being talked about. "Me and your sister met in a weird situation. As you've most likely noticed I'm a vampire, an old one. Thousands of years ago my mother hid me from my father for my protection. Alessia found me and helped me with issues in my family I guess you could say." 

"After that happened I was in a tough situation and had to be the Dragonborn. That's why I'm in Riften, we were looking for someone who can help use with trying to stop the end of the world, again." Arden raised an eyebrow as Alessia finished her last sentence. 

"Again?" 

"Her father wasn't really a good person, I'll leave it at that." Alessia stood up and looked over to Serana. "I'm gonna see what Delphine wants." 

She walked out of the room, leaving an awkward silence between the three left inside of it. Serana wondered what Alessia's sister was thinking since she's only said three words since they met. Her brother seemed glad that Alessia found them and was bringing them with.

"So you're good friends with Lessi?" Serana looked to Arden and smiled. 

"Yeah I guess you could say that." He narrowed his eyes at Serana and smirked. 

"So you two are sleeping together?" She let out a nervous laugh as she saw Alessia's sister roll her eyes. 

"No, I mean we were together. We aren't anymore I think, I'm not sure it's really confusing." Serana heard Aeron scoff as she looked up to her. "Why are you asking this?" 

"I'm her brother, of course I'm gonna ask this stuff even if I am ten years younger than her. So, do you love her?" Aeron glared at her brother as Serana laughed. 

"I do. That's a bit of a tough thing for us right now because of something I did. We are working on it though, very very slowly." 

Serana was glad he didn't ask anymore questions, she wasn't sure how to tell them that she basically left their sister to die. They sat in another awkward silence until Alessia came back with a not so happy expression on her face. 

"We're leaving I guess. Delphine wants us to meet her and Esbern at Old Hroldan in the Reach. She gave me the horn so we have to go to High Hrothgar and take it to them." Alessia placed the horn in her pack then turned to her siblings. "You're coming with me, Serana, and Lydia." 

"Why are we meeting them there?" 

"Near there is a place Esbern believes to have Alduin's Wall. Shows how to defeat him and some other stuff to do with the Blades." Serana was about to reply but Aeron got up and walked out of the room and by the sound of it she walked out of the house also.

Alessia quickly followed after her. She found Aeron sitting on a bench near the market area. She pulled up a box, placing it in front of her sister and sat down on it. 

"You're always so stubborn." Alessia paused, waiting for her sister to say something but nothing was said. "You probably don't care but, I saw her a bit ago. Said she was in Bravil a few months ago and you two weren't there. I went into a panick after that I guess. I wasn't thinking straight until I saw you both here. Did my best not to show it but I broke down earlier today." 

Aeron still said nothing, just stared blankly at Alessia. She placed a hand on her younger sister's knee, giving her a small smile which wasn't returned. 

"Aeron please just say something to me." She sighed then looked away for a moment then back to Alessia.

"You should just leave and go with that girl, I mean that's what you did to us at home. Leave us for the night and sleep with a random girl, leave her following you around saying she likes you. You're stringing this one along too. The difference between those girls and this one is that this one loves you. You're just breaking her heart more." Alessia stood up and backed away from her. She shook her head and looked at the ground, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. 

"I actually feel something for her, she's different." 

* * *

They've been walking for a few hours, Serana and Alessia followed behind Lydia and the two teenagers. Everyone had been silent the whole trip, even Arden which shocked Alessia since he was pretty talkative. Nearing Ivarstead, Alessia began to feel nervous since they would be staying the night there. She was hoping her mother wouldn't be there. 

"Even if she's there it will be okay. I know you aren't ready to say it yet and I said we are taking things slow but I want you to know I love you. If she comes near you or either of them I will do whatever to protect you guys. I'll always be here for you and I'll be here for them too if you want me and need me to be because I know you care for them." Alessia weakly smiled and stopped walking. She glanced to Serana who also stopped them to the three who continued walking. 

"Aeron said I'm stringing you along like every girl. I tried talking to her but all she did was say stuff against me and I don't know what to do to get her to have a normal conversation with me." 

"Give her time and space. Maybe Arden will say something to her about it. I'll even talk to her if you need me too." Alessia smiled and began walking with Serana, stopping again a few seconds later. 

"How do they know you love me?" Serana smiled, remembering when she told them. 

"Your brother was giving me a brotherly interview I guess you could call it. He said he did it even though he is ten years younger than you." Alessia laughed as they started walking again. 

"Typical Arden right there, always looking out for people he cares about." 

They walked for a few more minutes before reaching the inn. Alessia glanced around the inn a couple times before walking over to the table Lydia was sitting at. 

"Are you okay?" 

"Sort of. We should all sleep. I want to get to High Hrothgar as soon as possible." Lydia looked at Serana when Alessia quickly changed the subject. 

Alessia stood up and walked to a room after giving the innkeeper some money. Serana followed her into the room, Alessia was standing in the center of it looking at the door. She walked up to Serana and quickly connected their lips for a few moments. 

"I'm sorry, I just really wanted to do that." Alessia tried reading Serana's expression but she couldn't.

Serana only pulled her closer and connected their lips again. It wasn't as urgent as Alessia made the previous kiss. This one was slow, it felt as if they were kissing the first time to Alessia. Serana slowly pulled away, biting her bottom lip. 

"Don't apologize. I've been wanting to do that for awhile, I'm just waiting for you to be ready." Alessia nodded, walking over to the bed and grabbing night clothes from her pack. Serana adverts her eyes to somewhere else in the room as Alessia changed. 

"You'll stay?" Serana turned and saw Alessia sitting on the edge of the bed. 

"Do you want me too?" Alessia nodded and laid down on the bed, leaving space for Serana next to her. 

"I sleep better when you do stay with me." Serana laid down on her side so she was facing Alessia. "Not changing?" 

"Too lazy to." Alessia rolled her eyes and turned so her back was facing Serana. 

Seconds later she felt an arm around her waist and she was pulled closer to Serana. They laid there in silence, Serana could tell Alessia was asleep and wasn't going to for a bit, but she was definitely ready to. 

Serana yawned and then spoke to Alessia before she fell asleep. "I promise everything will be okay." 

* * *

Three days later they weren't even halfway up the freezing mountain. Serana found it amusing that both of Alessia's siblings would complain about the cold and then Alessia would complain about their complaining under her breath. 

They were resting for what seemed like the tenth time today and they've only been walking for a few hours. Five minutes later they were up and walking again. Lydia in front with the kids with Alessia and Serana following shortly behind them. 

"It's so fucking cold here." Serena laughed as Arden gladly accepted another blanket to wrap around himself from Lydia. 

"Language." He turned back and rolled his eyes at Alessia before turning his attention back to where he was walking. 

"Telling them to watch their language when you have probably said every swear known multiple times today whenever they complain or you get to cold." She glared at Serana while mumbling something incomprehensible under her breath. "What was that?"

"Remember when we first met, I told you I wasn't great at dovahzul so I can't translate it that well. Sorry." Alessia smirked as Serana rolled her eyes. 

"Yeah sure you can't." She laughed, letting the silence fall between her and Serana. 

In two days High Hrothgar finally came into view, but it would be another day until they get there. The rest of the trip up Serana was still making fun of Alessia since she was still complaining, but this time she was complaining about the cold also. The three siblings let out a sigh of relief once they entered the warmth of High Hrothgar. 

Alessia walked past everyone and found Arngeir sitting in the center of the room. She went into her pack and pulled out the horn, holding it out to show him. He smiled and stood up, slightly bowing in front of her. 

"You've made it back with the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller, good." Alessia followed him to where the rest of the Greybeards were standing. Everyone else stood back and watched what they were doing. "We will now Speak to you since you have completed the training. Stand between us, few can withstand the Voice of the Greybeards but you have show you are ready." 

Serana was about to speak, wondering if Arngeir was correct that Alessia was ready. Lydia looked to her and shook her head as she watched Alessia walk between the four Greybeards. The four took a few steps back but were still able to see what was about to happen.

 _"Lingrah krosis saraan Strundu'ul, voth nid balaan klov praan nau."_  

Serana watched nervously as Alessia stumbled when they spoke. Lydia held her arm out so she couldn't move any further. 

_"Naal Thu'umu, mu ofan nii nu, Dovahkiin, naal suleyk do Kaan, naal suleyk do Shor, ahrk naal suleyk do Atmorasewuth. Meyz nu Ysmir, Dovahzebrom. Dahmaan daar rok."_

Serana quickly walked to Alessia and held her upright once the Greybeards finished. 

"Are you okay?" 

"Yeah I'm fine." They turned to Arngeir that who was slowly approaching them. 

"You have tasted our Voice unscathed, High Hrothgar is open to you." Alessia nodded as she watched the Greybeards walk away from them. 

The five of them walked to the room that they previously used. Lydia and the twins immediately fell asleep as they laid down on the beds. Serana was looking through the bookshelf while Alessia watched her pick up books then set them back on the shelf. 

"Have you figured out where they could stay?" Alessia thought for a moment, they could possibly stay in her home at Whiterun but it might not be totally safe even if it's in a city. 

"No, I haven't." Serana nodded and sat down in the chair next to Alessia, narrowing her eyes in thought. 

"Why don't you ask if they can stay here?" Alessia raised an eyebrow. "I mean it's not like they get visitors here, they're peaceful and they have everything they need like food and a place to sleep." 

"It's not a bad idea. I just don't know how they will feel about me just leaving them again." Serana grabbed Alessia's hand and smiled. 

"I'm sure they will understand this time, you're doing what you have to to save everyone. I haven't known them long, but I know they would most likely be happy seeing that their sister is out there saving people." Alessia gave a soft smile and looked over to the two sleeping in the beds at the corner of the room. 

"Arden will be at least." Alessia sighed and then stood up. "I'll go talk to Arngeir." 

She walked out of the room and found Arngeir eating in the dining hall area. She sat down across from him, he looked up from the food to her. 

"Could I ask you something?" He took a drink and then nodded. "The boy and girl that came with us, they're my brother and sister. I'm not comfortable with them coming with me because I have things to handle currently. Would it be okay if they stay here?" 

"That won't be a problem, them staying here. What are their names?" 

"Arden and Aeron. They're both 15." Anrgeir nodded and looked back down to his food. "I'll let you finish, thank you for this." 

Alessia walked back into the room to find everyone sleeping. After changing she laid next to Serana and also fell asleep. 

* * *

Everyone was eating in an awkward silence. Alessia told her siblings that morning that they would be staying in High Hrothgar for a short period of time. Arden was okay with it, understanding why, but Aeron wasn't happy. She walked out of the room and has been outside in the courtyard since. 

Alessia stood up from the table once she finished and walked outside, finding Aeron sitting on the steps. She sat down next to her and placed the blanket over her shoulders. 

"You know I never wanted to be... this, Dragonborn. It wasn't until recently I figured out that I needed to be this for many people. Including you and Arden, me and Serana, Lydia and the rest of the world. Even when I was forced to do what I'm doing now I didn't want to do this. I just want you to see why I'm doing this." 

"I don't get why you're leaving us again. Is that all you're going to do from now on? Leave?" Alessia scooted over and looked at her sister with a blank expression. 

"I'm leaving you for a bit to protect you. I don't know what I'm going to be facing out there. I can stand leaving you in this situation so you can stay safe because I know I would punish myself for the rest of my long, immortal life if I bring you both with me and you die. I couldn't lose you." Alessia stood up and walked back inside, slamming the door shut. 

She walked inside where everyone was eating and sat down in the chair next to Serana. Alessia looked around, seeing that their plates were empty. 

"We are leaving now. Arden, we'll be back as soon as we can. Take care of your sister she's even more pissed at me now." Alessia stood up and walked into the room to gather her belongings. Lydia and Serana walked in and did the same. 

* * *

When they met Delphine and Esbern they found out they would be going to Sky Haven Temple where Alduin's Wall was believed to be located. The place was crawling with Forsworn, it definitely wasn't easy getting inside and getting through the first room of the temple. 

Alessia was pretty shaken up as they went through, along with everyone else. 

The place was protected well, using a blood seal that only Alessia could break through. Behind where it was, it was easy to tell it had been abandoned for years due to the dust collected. Alessia was glad to find some new and better armor, even if it was Blades Armor. She did keep her hood and left the helmet since it wouldn't help with blocking the sun. 

Alduin's Wall was there. Esbern easily explained it. It depicted the time Alduin was defeated before by pictures. Alessia listened the best she could, but she wasn't thinking straight at the moment. 

She did hear that there was a Shout needed to defeat Alduin. Also that she would have to go back to High Hrothgar. Luckily there were multiple beds there so they didn't have to travel to an inn. 

Alessia fell asleep eventually, after an hour or so of silently crying. She distanced herself from everyone. The nightmares were their that night, and they were the worst they've been in awhile. 

The next morning they ate in silence, except Alessia. She couldn't eat. She spent her morning poking at her food with her fork, a dead stare at the wall facing them. Again, she kept her distance from everyone. 

Eventually tears came again. They came before she fell asleep and every time she woke up from another nightmare. She looked at everyone when she felt their eyes on her. 

They all gave her sympathetic looks. She shook her head and looked back down to her food. Alessia clenched her jaw and both of her fist. She spoke for the first time since they arrived at Karthspire. 

Nobody said a word. They looked at each other before looking back at her. She looked back at them. They only gave her the same sympathetic look. 

"She's gone. Never coming back. Gone, forever. I have to know that it is my fault forever." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to thank you guys for all of the comments you guys leave. Some of you say that when you see that I've updated it makes your day, well when I read your comments they make my day. Reading everyone's comments is one of the things I like about writing, so thank you for every single one of them along with supporting the story.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything can be translated on thuum.org since most don't have the translation included in the story. Thanks for reading!

_They had just arrived at Karthspire, Forsworn surrounding them on each side with their weapons ready. Alessia heard the sizzling of Serana's magic behind her along with swords being taken from their sheathes. Esbern conjured a Flame Antronach. Nobody made a move to attack._

_"Make sure Alessia makes it out of here alive, no matter what." Once Delphine finished speaking the first Forsworn attacked._

_Alessia easily got him along with two others with her bow. Her and Serana went after the ones that were away from the group with Alessia's arrows and Serana's magic. Esbern, Lydia, and Delphine dealt with the Forsworn that attacked closely._

_Although she had just drank a blood potion at the inn and right before they entered the area, all Alessia could think about was the stench of the blood. There was too much of it._

_She surprised herself that the way to distract herself was to keep an eye on the people with her, making sure they were safe._

_By now only a few Forsworn remained. Serana killed who they thought was the last Forsworn, but to their surprise another group of them appeared from behind them. Alessia slung her bow across her back and choose to use her sword instead._

_"The sun is coming out we won't be able to heal of something happens." Alessia turned back and smiled at Serana._

_"Don't let something happen to you then." She watched Alessia walk off to where two Forsworn stood, swords ready._

_They quickly fell once Alessia began attacking them, along with one other that approached as did. Three Forsworn then approached Lydia, another approached Alessia while Serana fought off others at a distance. Delphine and Esbern were doing the same as Serana._

_The Forsworn kept coming, one after another, taking on one person in small groups. Finally only two remained, one Serana took down with an ice spike and one the was approaching Alessia and Lydia._

_Lydia walked to the Forsworn while everyone else stood back. Alessia quickly walked and got her bow, an arrow in her hand if necessary. She nervously watched as the man danced around Lydia with his two swords._

_Lydia saw an advantage against him, quickly dodging his swords and going behind him, piercing her sword between his two shoulder blades. She began to pull her sword from his body, not paying attention to her surroundings._

_Out of the corner of Alessia's eye she saw another Forsworn, twirling her sword in her hand as she snuck up behind Lydia. Alessia quickly shoot an arrow at her but missed, she did the same with the second._

_"Lydia!" She turned her head to Alessia, shrugging her shoulders as she continued to get her sword._

_Alessia moved closer and pulled out her sword but it quickly fell from her hand when an arrow went through her wrist. Grabbing the arrow and breaking it off but leaving it in her hand, she saw a Forsworn atop a ledge. Serana saw him too and hit him with an ice spike._

_Alessia turned her attention back to Lydia and the approaching woman. She picked up her pace as did Alessia and walk up to Lydia with the sword ready in her hand._

_"Lydia leave the sword, turn around!" Lydia quickly turned to see the Forsworn with the sword raised and quickly moving down at her._

"IIZ SLEN NUS" 

_The woman froze in her place but it was to late. The hilt of the sword was poking out from where it pierced Lydia in the chest. Alessia quickly ran over to her, grabbing her before she fell to the ground._

_Lydia struggled to breathe as Alessia held her, tears brimming her eyes. She looked over to the three watching the both of them. Alessia placed her hand near the wound on Lydia's chest, unsure of what to do._

_"Alessia... I-" She shook her head as Lydia began to speak but interrupted her._

_"Don't. You'll be fine." Alessia heard Serana sigh and move closer to her. "Please tell me there's something we can do." Serana only shook her head, tears began falling from Alessia's eyes. "I'm sorry, so sorry. I should have acted fast and done something, anything."_

_"It's o-okay."_

_"No it's not. This is the opposite of okay." Alessia felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over and saw Delphine._

_"We need to go." Alessia ignored her and watched Lydia reached into one of her pockets and pull out something. She placed it into Alessia's hand._

_"I-I was going... to give it to you. I got it... before you left." It was a gold ring with a sapphire gem on it. "When you and Serana... are ready... give it to her."_

_Alessia stared at the ring sitting in the palm of her hand. She stared at the ring until someone pulled her up from the ground. Once she was standing she heard that Lydia wasn't breathing, along with there was no heartbeat from her._

* * *

Alessia was sitting on the floor against a wall looking at the ring. After breakfast she shut herself in one of the small rooms, hoping to be left alone. She had been left alone for the most part, other than someone occasionally saying something that they hoped would comfort her but they never did. 

Ever since it happened, all she thought about was what it would be like if she never left for the Dawnguard. Lydia would be alive, yet she would have never met Serana. Those thoughts always lead back to her never meeting Serana. 

Speaking of Serana, Alessia didn't even realize that she had walked into the room. She leaned against the opposite wall, waiting for Alessia to notice her. After a few minutes she did, only looking up at her then back down to her hand. 

"Are you okay?" Alessia looked up at her with the same blank expression she's had since yesterday. 

"That's a stupid question. Since you asked I'm doing the best I can." Serana's eyes fell to the ring Alessia was holding. 

She didn't tell Alessia but she heard what Lydia had said about it. She didn't know what to think of any of it. She walked over and sat down next to Alessia, leaning her head on her shoulder. 

"Delphine made me come ask, I wanted to let you have your space but that wasn't working for her." Alessia sighed and leaned her head against the wall. 

"She wants us to leave now doesn't she, to go talk to Arngeir about the Shout." She found out she needed a Shout to defeat Alduin, of course it was one she didn't know. 

"I told her you wouldn't want to go now and I wasn't going to make you go." Alessia stood up and held out a hand for Serana to help her up. 

"I wanna show you something." Serana took her hand and was led outside of Sky Haven Temple. 

Alessia walked so they were in the shade near the edge of the large cliff. Serana smiled at the view they had. She looked over to Alessia and saw her smiling to, but looking at her. 

"I knew you'd like it." 

"How'd you know that?" Alessia laughed and leaned against one of the stone pillars. 

"You seem to like any type of view outside. We could be standing in the middle of the marsh again and you would be saying it looks nice." Serana rolled her eyes and looked back to the view. She heard Alessia move to her left and sit down on the rock as she took Serana's left hand. "Lydia told me while we were in Solitude that she would be dead by the time we actually got together." 

"I'm going to be honest and tell you that I don't know what to say about anything that happened. The only thing I can think of saying is sorry but that doesn't do anything." Alessia pulled her a bit closer, Serana saw the sadness in her eyes as she looked up. 

"I don't think I can ever give you the ring she gave me, no matter how ready either of us are." Serana looked at her in confusion, unsure of what she was saying. 

"What are you saying?" 

"It doesn't feel right giving you a ring that was meant for me. Especially since the person who was going to give it to me is now, you know..." Alessia's voice trailed off as she looked off into the distance. Serana replied, although she didn't pay attention what she had said. 

She stood up and walked over to the right side of the cliff, grimacing once she stepped into the sunlight. Serana followed behind her, stopping at her side. 

"Is there something you see?" She scanned the ground, what she could see of it because of the clouds covering some areas. 

"Just a dragon over there." Alessia pointed to one of the mountains in the distance that a dragon was flying around. 

"You ignored what I said just cause a dragon was doing nothing?" Serana smiled, which Alessia didn't see so she took her seriously. 

"He's flying around so not exactly doing nothing. You said something though?" 

"I said for you to keep it. To remember her." Alessia furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Serana. 

"I don't get why she wanted me to give it to you. I basically left her for you. None of this would have happened if I..." Alessia trailed off, looking away from Serana. She didn't want to say what she had been think earlier, especially to Serana. 

"If you didn't go to that cave where you met me." Serana looked down and whispered exactly what Alessia was thinking. "I'm going back inside." 

"Serana wait." She didn't look back and continued walking inside. 

Alessia followed behind her until Serana walked into one of the bedrooms and shut the door in her face. She tried opening the door but found that it was locked. She was tempted to pick the lock but decided against it. 

"I didn't mean that by not wanting to meet you, I meant it by saying she would still be here." 

"You made it sound like you would rather be with her than me." Alessia sighed and leaned against the door. 

"You know that's not true. I loved her, but that was before I met you. When she was dying all I could think about was what I did wrong. My last thought was what if I didn't go to the Dawnguard, then I thought about you, I wouldn't have you if I didn't go there." She paused, waiting for Serana to say something but she only heard footsteps coming closer that stopped before the door. "I don't want to be without you. No matter what I thought or said." 

"You piss me off how complicated you can be sometimes." Serana opened the door to allow Alessia in. 

"It's one thing you like about me though right?" She rolled her eyes as Alessia walked into the room with a smile on her face. 

"I could name so many more things that I like about you." Alessia nodded and sat down on one of the chairs. 

"Please share, I need something to cheer me up a bit." 

"You can figure it out on your own. We got somewhere to be so shall we?" Serana grabbed their things as Alessia watched her with narrowed eyes. 

"I'm not going to miss climbing that mountain once everything is done with." Alessia and Serana left Sky Haven Temple after saying their goodbyes and headed back to High Hrothgar. 

* * *

When they entered High Hrothgar it was silent. A few seconds later Alessia and Serana heard a something fall from the room they stayed in. Alessia mumbled something under her breath and walked off to the room. 

"What the hell are you two doing?" Alessia found Aeron reaching over the table to Arden and a cup and plate on the floor next to them. 

"He took food from my plate when he has plenty on his. Hello to you too." Alessia rolled her eyes and walked past them to lay down on a bed. 

"Where's your friends?" She opened one of her eyes and looked at Arden as he spoke with his mouth full. 

"Serana is gonna be here right now." On cue, Serana walked in and smiled at the twins. 

"Lydia?" Alessia sat up and nervously glanced to Serana then to Arden. 

"She's not coming back." 

"What do you mean?" Serana sighed and looked at Alessia before she spoke. 

"Outside of Karthspire we were attacked and one of them killed Lydia. There was nothing we could do." Alessia was about to protest but Serana gave her a stern look. 

"I'm sorry that happened." 

"So am I." Alessia looked up at her brother before continuing. "Do you know where Arngeir is?" 

"Last I saw he was outside." 

"I'll be back." She stood up and walked outside, seeing Arngeir standing near the fire that burned in the distance. 

"It's good to see you Alessia. How have you been?" She sighed, not wanting to hide how she was. 

"I could be much better. We ran into some Forsworn, Lydia was killed by one of them." 

"I'm sorry to hear that, but there seems to be something else bothering you." Arngeir figured she didn't want to speak anymore about Lydia so he decided to change the subject. 

"Yes there is. I need to know the Shout used to defeat Alduin." Arngeir furrowed his eyebrows and crossed his arms. 

"Where did you hear of such thing?" 

"The Blades, Alduin's Wall." 

"The Blades know nothing. They are trying to take you from the path of wisdom." Alessia rolled her eyes, earning an annoyed sigh from Arngeir. 

"They are trying to help me defeat Alduin which I believe is my destiny." Arngeir shook his head and began walking back to the monastery. 

"They're using you. I won't help until you turn back to the path of wisdom." Alessia walked in front of him and stopped. 

"What's with this path of wisdom bullshit? You didn't even question why I was leaving even though I heard you would much rather prefer if I stay up here in silence with you." 

"I have nothing else to say, so if you'll excuse me." Arngeir went to step around Alessia but she moved so she was in front of him again. 

 _"Rek los Dovahkiin, Strundu'ul. Rek fen tinvaak Paarthurnax."_ Alessia jumped a bit when she heard Einarth beside her. 

"My apologies Alessia. Master Einarth is right, it is not my say in whether we help or not. The Shout you are seeking, Dragonrend is unknown to us. Only our leader Paarthurnax can help you." 

"Why have I never met him?" 

"Few get the privilege to. He lives at the summit of the Throat of the World. I can show you how to reach it with the Clear Skies Shout." Three words appeared on the ground in front of them, _Lok Vah Koor_. 

Alessia quickly understood the Shout with the help of Arngeir's knowledge he offered. She looked at the steps that led up the mountain, seeing a large cloud of mist there. 

"The Shout will clear the mist for a short period of time." Alessia nodded, about to walk to the mountain but quickly remembered about Serana. 

"Thank you. I need to get Serana then I will be on my way." She quickly walked inside and found Serana messing around with her dagger on the bed. 

"Did he teach you the Shout?" Serana looked up as soon as she entered the room. 

"No he doesn't know it. He said I need to speak to Paarthurnax, their leader. He lives higher up the mountain." She got up and followed Alessia outside. 

"Hope you have a way to get rid of that." Alessia smiled at Serana as they stopped before the mist. 

_"LOK VAH KOOR"_

* * *

A damaged Word Wall was all they could find at the summit of the mountain, no place that a person could live in. Alessia was about to suggest that they head back down the mountain but she heard the roar of a dragon along with wings flapping though the air. She heard the sound of Serana's magic flowing next to her. 

"Wait." Alessia placed a hand over Serana's, doing her best to ignore the coldness of it. 

The dragon circled above them a few times then landed a few feet in front of them. The two of them stared at him for a few moments waiting to see if he would attack or not. 

" _Drem Yol Lok_. I am Paarthurnax." Alessia moved her hand from Serana's and placed them at her side. "Who are you? What brings you to my _strunmah_?" 

"Dovahkiin, but I'm sure you already knew that. I'm here because I need to learn the Dragonrend Shout." Paarthurnax let out a long blow of air before speaking. 

" _Drem_. There are formalities that must be observed when two of the _dov_ first meet. The elder speaks first." Paarthurnax turned to the Word Wall before continuing. "Match my Thu'um if you are Dovahkiin!" 

_"YOL TOOR SHUL"_

Alessia stepped back as the bright light of flames erupted in front of them. Once the fire disappeared Alessia walked up to the Word Wall, placing her hand on the word that was just engraved on it. She whispered under her breath, " _Shul_." 

"A gift, Dovakiin. Understand as the _dov_ do. Show me what you are capable of. Greet me as _dovah_!" Alessia turned to him with a raised eyebrow. 

"You want me to use the Shout, on you?" Paarthurnax let out a noise that her and Serana both took as a laugh. 

"Yes, I won't be harmed. Now show me if you are Dovahkiin or not." Alessia shrugged her shoulders and took a step closer to him. 

 _"YOL TOOR SHUL"_  

" _Sossedov los mul_. It is long since I had the pleasure to speak with one of my own kind. _Prodah_. You seek your weapon against Alduin, not for _tinvaak_ with an old _dovah_." 

"Do you know Dragonrend?" 

"I do not know the Thu'um you seek. _Krosis_. It cannot be known to me." Alessia let out a silent, frustrated groan. " _Joorre_ , your kind, created it as a weapon against the _dov_. Our minds cannot even... comprehend its concepts." 

"How am I suppose to learn it then?" 

" _Drem_. I have a question for you. Why do you want to learn this Thu'um?" Alessia looked down at her feet in thought for a few moments before looking back to Paarthurnax. 

"I don't want this world to end. There are people here who I care about who I want to save. Though not everyone could be saved by me doing this." Paarthurnax nodded his head to Alessia's response. 

" _Pruzah_. Though some may feel the same, not all do." Paarthurnax turned to Serana and spoke to her. "Do you feel the same as she does?" 

"I do. I admire the fact that she wants to protect others and that is why she is doing this." Alessia couldn't help but let a smile appear on her face, that's one thing Serana likes about her she thought. 

"Perhaps this world is simply the Egg of the next kalpa? _Lein vokiin_? Would you stop the next world from being born?" Alessia's smile dropped as she stared back at Paarthurnax. 

"Listen, I have thousands of years on this world and people I care about may not have that many but they still have a future. The next world can manage itself, just like this one does." 

" _Paaz_. _Ro fus_ , maybe you balance the forces that work to quicken the end of this world. Even we who ride the currents of Time cannot see past Time's end. Those who hasten the end may delay while those who work to delay the end may bring it closer. Now I will answer your question since you indulged my weakness for speech." Paarthurnax took a glance around the mountain before looking back to Alessia. "Do you know why I live here, at the peak of the _Monahven_ , Throat of the World?" 

"No I don't. I never thought about it. Secluded from everything else maybe?" 

"It is secluded yes, but this is the very spot where Alduin was defeated by the ancient Tongues." Serana instantly became interested in their conversation, Alessia rolled her eyes at Serana's interest in history. " _Vahrukt unslaad_... perhaps none but me remember how Alduin was defeated." 

"They used the Dragonrend Shout." 

"Yes and no. Alduin was never truly defeated. You wouldn't be here today had he been defeated. The Nords then used Dragonrend to cripple Alduin but it was not enough. _Ok mulaag unslaad_. It was the _Kel_ , Elder Scroll. They used it to cast him adrift on the currents of Time." Alessia grabbed her pack and pulled out the three Elder Scrolls. 

"One of these Elder Scrolls?" Paarthurnax glanced down at them with widen eyes. "How will they help?" 

"If you take the correct _Kel_ to the _Tiid-Ahraan_ , the Time-Wound. You may be able to cast yourself back to the other end of the break. Then, you can learn Dragonrend from the ones who created it." Alessia put two of the Scrolls back inside her pack, keeping the last in her hand. 

"This is the Elder Scroll." 

"Take the Scroll to the Time-Wound, fulfill your destiny." Serana followed Alessia to the Time-Wound, she stopped before getting to close to it to turn back to Serana. 

"I'll be fine. The last time I read these I didn't get hurt." Serana narrowed her eyes at Alessia in disagreement. 

"Last time you read those your mind was at a whole other place." Alessia sighed and placed a hand on Serana's arm. 

"I'll be fine." 

Serana watched Alessia walk into the Time-Wound and open the Scroll. Her face wasn't blank like last time, it was as if she was fully aware of what was going on. She looked around her, it seemed as if she was trying to move but was unable to. 

After a few moments of glancing around her eyes stayed in one place. It looked as if she was watching something. Serana watched her, she furrowed her eyebrows a few times then her face went blank. She looked up at the sky near the Word Wall with a bit of shook. 

Alessia then continued to glance around. Her lips parted and she mouthed something, multiple times over and over again. All of the sudden she seemed to snap out of it and looked directly at Serana then out to the distance. 

"He's here." Serana had no time to ask who Alessia was talking about when a loud roar cut her off. Alduin was in the distance, flying right towards the mountain, right towards them. 

" _Bahloki nahkip sillesejoor, Dovahkiin_." 

Alessia readied her bow, waiting for him to come closer. Paarthurnax rose from the mountain and circled around it from a distance as did Alduin. He looked back down to Alessia as he neared her. 

"Use Dragonrend if you have learned it!" She looked up at where Alduin was and took a deep breath. 

_"JOOR ZAH FRUL"_

The Shout sounded like thunder in Serana's ears. Alduin was covered in a blue cloud of light and was pulled to the ground in front of them. Alessia began shooting arrows at home while Serana used her ice spikes against him. Paarthurnax circled above them, waiting to see if they would need help. 

"You may have picked up the weapon of my ancient foes, but you are not their equal!" Large rocks that were on fire began crashing around them, falling from the sky. 

Serana held up a ward around herself and Alessia as Alduin lifted his head and fire went towards them. The effects of Alessia's Shout wore off to quickly for her liking as Alduin rose to the sky again. Paarthurnax began helping the attack from the sky while Alessia and Serana avoided the rocks falling around them. 

Another one of Alessia's Shouts ripped through the air as Alduin made the mistake of getting close to her. He circled around them one more time before landed near them again. As they began attacking him again, Alduin and Alessia began bickering back and fourth in the ancient dragon language, none of which Serana understood. 

Alessia pulled out her sword and moved closer, dodging his attacks and looking for an opening to attack. As she did, she jumped onto his back but he quickly threw her off into the edge of a large rock. She instantly grabbed her leg and Serana saw the large cut on her thigh. 

" _Meyz mul_ , Dovahkiin. You have become strong. But I am Al-du-in, Firstborn of Akatosh!" Alessia tried to stand up, but quickly fell back down grasping her leg. " _Mulaagi zok lot_! Nobody, including you, can slay me here! I will outlast you... even if you may be immortal." 

Alessia and Serana watched Alduin fly away from the mountain. Seconds later Paarthurnax appeared near Serana. 

"You truly have the Voice of a _dovah_ , Alduin's allies will think twice after this victory." Alessia scoffed from where she was sitting against the rock. 

"You have a weird idea of what a victory is. Alduin escaped, so it wasn't one." Serana walked over to her and helped her up. Alessia used her as a crutch as they walked over to Paarthurnax. 

"True, this isn't the final _krongrah_. But even the heroes of the old were unable to defeat Alduin. Alduin has always been _pahlok_ , arrogant about the power he has. He took domination as his birthright. This will hopefully shake the loyalty of those who serve him." 

"I need to know where he went." 

"One of his allies could tell us. Motmahus... it won't be easy to convince one to tell us where Alduin went. They may not betray him. Perhaps in the palace of Whiterun, Dragonsreach, you could capture one of his allies. It was originally built to hold a _dov_ captive." Alessia chuckled as she leaned into Serana more. 

"Jarl Balgruuf is going to _love_ this idea." Paarthurnax sighed at Alessia's sarcasm. 

"Your _su'um_ , spirit, is strong. You can convince him of the need." 

* * *

Once they reached Whiterun Alessia's leg was healed. She did have to limp down the mountain with Serana's help and luckily they found a carriage along the roads near Ivarstead. Her leg healed quicker than her other wounds she's received since she was turned, even though it felt like it had been broken from being thrown into a rock. 

As they approached Dragonsreach two guards blocked the doors to enter. 

"The Jarl isn't taking visitors, especially from you." The one who spoke had a shaky voice, Alessia could tell he was new and young. The other stared right at her with his hand on the hilt of his sword. 

"I'm here on very important business. Please move before I Shout you out of the way." The two of them quickly moved aside and allowed her to enter with a smile on her face. Serana followed behind her as they approached where the Jarl was sitting on his throne. 

"What a surprise. Why are you here?" The Jarl brushed his fingers through his beard as he waiting for a response. 

"I need to use your palace to trap a dragon." He let out a loud laugh, clearly amused by Alessia's statement. 

"They must have taught you what a sense of humor is up on that mountain." Alessia glared at him and crossed her arms. 

"I'm not joking. I need to trap a dragon." He let the amused expression drop and became serious.  

"Not happening. I'm not letting my city get vulnerable at these times by allowing a dragon into the area." Alessia let out a frustrated puff of air and took a step closer to him. 

"Listen, you wanted me to be the Dragonborn or you would kill me, so I am. To continue doing that I must trap a dragon in here. If he destroys your pretty little palace, I don't care. I'm sure you have more than enough coin to rebuild it. This must be done, so tell all your citizens that they need to stay indoors when I'm ready. Got it?" The Jarl grunted and nodded to Alessia. 

"Fine. Let me know when you're ready then." 

"I'll be back soon." 

Alessia and Serana walked from Dragonsreach to Breezehome, quickly sitting down in the chairs next to the unlit fire pit. Alessia let out a groan as she rested her head against the back of it. She then closed her eyes and let out a loud yawn. 

"Go to bed. I'm guessing we have to go travel tomorrow." She turned her head to Serana and opened one of her eyes to look at her. 

"I think we should see Esbern since he knows so much about dragons. And I'm only going to bed if you join." Serana smiled and followed her up the stairs and to the bed where they laid down, not caring to change. 

"This is almost over you know." Alessia smiled and nodded, moving onto her back so she faced the roof. 

"We can be normal for once finally." 

* * *

One week later Alessia and Serana were standing out on the Great Porch with a group of Whiterun Guards. All had their bows ready except for Serana who stuck with her usual magic. Jarl Balgruuf came through the doors with Irileth, giving Alessia the nod of approval to call Odahviing. 

A few days before she learned of Odahviing from Esbern. Her and Serana traveled to Sky Haven Temple to learn of one of Alduin's allies. Esbern said they had the best chance if they spoke to Odahviing. 

Alessia approached the railing of the porch, taking a look out to the distance. She took deep breath and then Shouted for Odahviing. 

_"OD AH VIING"_

Everyone watched around the porch for a few minutes before they heard a thundering roar. A red dragon appeared and began circling around the porch, arrows flying at him from the guards. Alessia and Serana waited, knowing they weren't going to be able to him until Alessia used Dragonrend on him. He finally came close enough to the porch so she could use Dragonrend. 

_"JOOR ZAH FRUL"_

The blue cloud of light erupted around him and he immediately landed on the Great Porch. Alessia slowly backed up, leading Odahviing further onto the porch. Once he was in the middle of it the trap fell down onto him, leaving him stuck and unable to move. 

" _Zu'u bonaar_. Quite the trouble you went through to put me into this position. You want to find Alduin, correct?" Alessia nodded, arms crossed and foot tapping on the ground. 

"You are correct. Where is he?" 

"One reason I came here was to see how powerful your Thu'um was myself. Many have been questioning if Alduin's was truly the strongest. None were yet ready to openly defy him." Alessia sighed, of course he would ramble on about useless information. 

"You were saying where Alduin can be found?" 

" _Unslaad krosis_. Innumerable pardons. I digress. He traveled to Sovngarde to regain strength by devouring the _sillesejoor_. A privilege he jealously guards. The door to Sovngarde is at Skuldafn, high in the eastern mountains." Those on the Great Porch began to whisper about Odahviing's mention of Sovngarde. "I must not need to warn you that all his remaining strength is gathered there. _Zu'u lost ofan hin laan_. Will you allow me to go free?" 

Alessia pondered in silence as she stared down Odahviing. "Promise to serve me then I will." 

" _Aam_? _Ni tiid_. I will reconsider if and when you defeat Alduin. _Krosis_. I neglected to mention a detail about Skuldafn." 

"What is it?" Alessia began growing impatient with Odahviing even though he was giving her some answers she needed. 

"You have the Thu'um of a _dovah_ , but not the wings of one. Without wings you will never set foot into Skuldafn. I could perhaps fly you there, but not while imprisoned." 

"I'll set you free, only if you promise to take me." Alessia earned many arguing mumbles from the city guards when she answered. 

"It was wise of you to know you only have one choice." Alessia nodded and began walking over to the guard near the lever for the trap, but was stopped by the Jarl. 

"You're not really doing this are you?" Alessia pushed his hand from where it held her arm and narrowed her eyes at him. 

"If I didn't do this you'd have my head. So yes, I am doing this." She nodded at the guard and he pulled the lever, setting Odahviing free. 

"Are you ready to see the world as only a _dovah_ can?" Alessia looked over at Serana who was standing patiently behind her then back to Odahviing. 

"Give me one moment please." She walked over to Serana while a hand digging in her pocket. 

She took Serana's hand in hers, giving her a small smile. Serana felt a ring slid onto her ring finger, looking down she saw a gold ring with a diamond on it. 

"What are you doing?" Alessia bit her lip and sighed, not giving Serana an answer. "You're not allowed to die there." 

"I might Serana. If I do survive, who knows how long I'll be there though." She paused for a moment to wipe a tear from Serana's cheek. "I was thinking a lot last night and this morning, about us. This is going to be over as soon as I get back and when I do I don't wanna do this let's take it slow stuff. I'm going to marry you when I get back. I'm going to because I love you." 

Serana said nothing and pulled Alessia in for a kiss. It lasted for a few minutes until they both heard someone awkwardly cough nearby. 

"You'll make it out of there. Don't think for a second you won't." Alessia nodded and hugged her tightly. 

She pulled away and began walking over towards Odahviing. Before climbing onto his back she took one look back to Serana, tears staining both of their cheeks. 

"Take care of Arden and Aeron along as yourself while I'm gone. I love you." 

"I love you too."


	27. Chapter 27

Serana watched Alessia go away on the back of Odahviing, she watched until she could no longer see them. Everyone around her mumbled and whispered amongst themselves as she disappeared into the distance. 

Once she could no longer see Alessia she slowly back away to the doors and out of Dragonsreach. Serana quickly made her way over to Alessia's home and gathered her things and left. Walking up to the first carriage she saw, she gave the driver gold and asked him to take her to Solitude. 

The trip was somewhat quiet. The driver was the only one speaking, every so often he would make a comment about what was around them or he would ask Serana something. She ignored him the whole time, only wanting to speak to two people, one of which she was unable to. 

When the carriage stopped Serana quickly got off and went to the docks. She found a boat and paid the man however much he needed to take her to Castle Volkihar. 

* * *

Serana slowly walked into her mother's study. It was the same as her and Alessia left it. The Soul Cairn was still accessible so Serana quickly walked to the portal and entered. 

It was exactly the same as Serana remembered it. This time she didn't take her time to look around and quickly broke into a run towards where her mother should be. 

She found her mother standing over an alchemy table with her back turned to her. Serana quickly approached her and pulled her into a tight hug. When she felt her mother's arms around her she began crying into her shoulder. 

"Serana, what's wrong?" Valerica pulled away and kept her arms on her daughter's shoulders. 

"Alessia s-she's gone and I don't know if she'll come back." Serana took a step back and leaned against the wall and wiped the tears from her cheeks. 

"What do you mean she's gone?" 

"She had to go fight Alduin and the only place she could was in Sovngarde." Her mother looked at her in confusion so she continued. "She rode on a dragon to some place. I didn't know what to do so I came here." 

"Wait a minute. Your father, where is he? How did you get here?" Serana sighed, she knew very well it wouldn't be long until her mother asked about him. 

"He's dead. It's all over. That's why I was able to come here." Valerica let out a sigh of relief and walked over to her alchemy table to begin gathering some of her things. "What are you doing?" 

"I've been down here to long. It's time for me to go back home." Serana stared at her mother blankly, trying to find the right words. "Let's go then." 

"It will need cleaned up you know. The castle, since what happened with everything." Serana followed behind her mother as they made their way to the exit of the Soul Cairn. 

"That's okay, I'm sure we can handle it. It might help you get your mind off of things until she comes back." Serana took a few fast steps so she could walk beside Valerica and looked at her from the corner of her eye. 

"Mother, you do realize she's going to fight Alduin. Sometimes I don't think you listen to me." 

"I watched her fight Durnehviir here, she can do it. Don't doubt her." Valerica looked over at Serana and smiled while her daughter still looked at her blankly. "She will be back don't worry. When she does get back wedding planming will be much easier since we don't do it traditionally." 

"I'll be lucky if I make it that long dealing with you talking about it." Valerica rolled her eyes at her daughter with a smile on her face as they continued out of the Soul Cairn. 

* * *

Alessia jumped from Odahviing once he landed in front of Skuldafn. She took a quick glance around the area, there were other dragons somewhere and she could see draugr in the distance. 

"I cannot take you further. _Krif voth ahkrin_. I will look for your return, or Alduin's." Odahviing flew away, leaving Alessia to fight on her own. 

As soon as Alessia took a step closer to Skuldafn a dragon appeared along with two draugr. She quickly killed the draugr with her bow as she carefully watched the dragon fly above her. A few more draugr eventually appeared but they didn't last much longer than the first few. 

Alessia was about to continue forward but the dragon landed directly in front of her, its head almost on top of her. Taking a few hurried steps backwards, Alessia pulled her sword from its sheathe and ran to the dragon's side then to its tail. She quickly climbed on top of it then traveled up its back towards its head. The dragon tried throwing her off multiple times but each attempt failed and Alessia easily killed it by stabbing her sword through its head. 

The rest of the way to Skuldafn Temple was easy to go through, only a few draugr in her path. Alessia felt like it took forever for her just to travel from where she first arrived to the entrance of the temple. 

Inside it looked like the average Nordic Ruin in Skyrim. Inside was of course filled with more draugr. She was immediately greeted by a Draugr Deathlord to her disappointment. She quickly thought about when she first met with Serana and what happened there, then what if it happened here and now. She had no one to save her like that time. 

Shaking the thoughts away, she watched every single movement it made while looking for a moment to strike. From the corner of her eye she saw another to her right coming at her. She quickly moved and blocked the other draugr's sword with her own. 

The second draugr was shaken up by Alessia's block, so she quickly went to it and stabbed her sword through its chest. With no time to get her sword, she pulled her dagger from its sheathe on her thigh and threw it to the draugr, hitting it between its eyes. 

After retrieving her sword and dagger, she continued up a set of stairs to the next room. As soon as she stepped from the last stair she rolled her eyes. 

"These things are gonna be the death of me." Not wanting to waste anymore time, Alessia got her bow and quickly shot an arrow at the draugr that was watching her from a distance. 

She slung her bow back onto her back before continuing forward. Just as she passed one of the many coffins in the room, it opened and she didn't have time to react. 

Before she could pull her sword out she felt a sharp pain in her leg. Alessia looked down and saw a trail of blood flowing from it. Luckily it began healing quickly so she was able to fight. She did the same to this draugr as the others, stabbing her sword through its stomach instead of the chest though. 

Behind her she heard more footsteps, three draugr, all staring directly at her from a few feet away. She groaned as she reached down at the daggers strapped to her thigh, only two of them. She threw each at one draugr, leaving one left. Looking to the ground next to her she saw an axe that one of the other draugrs used. She quickly grabbed it to block the swing of the greatsword from the draugr. 

With the axe, Alessia hit the draugr in the neck, causing it to fall quickly. She grabbed her weapons and walked over to the pillars that showed a dolphin, snake, and bird on each of its three sides. Looking around, she saw that across from each pillar was a matching picture to go with them. After getting the pillars correct, she pulled the lever and walked over to the gate that opened. 

Alessia walked into the next room, knowing very well that there would be more draugr there. To her luck, it didn't notice her yet so she was able to quickly kill it with an arrow. As she walked down the stairs to where the draugr was she noticed that the coffin it was in opened on both ends, allowing her to pass through it. 

She sighed as she walked through, cobwebs littered the place along with egg sacs. She slowly walked through with her sword in her hand to knock down the webs that were in her way. Alessia checked every hidden space she walked through, waiting for a spider to pop out of nowhere. To her surprise there was only one small spider, crawling around in front of a door. She rolled her eyes at the spider's poor attempt to harm her in any way. 

Past the door were two draugr, each one fell to an arrow from Alessia. There was another puzzle with similar pillars, which Alessia quickly solved again. Once she pulled the lever a drawbridge fell, allowing her to walk on it to another door. 

Alessia began to get annoyed by how many draugr were here. Past the door were three draugr, and to annoy her even more one of them summoned a Frost Antronach. She moved in front of both of them, taking a deep breath. 

_"YOL TOOR SHUL"_

The draugr fell to the ground, lit on fire as the Frost Antronach flashed from sight. Arrows were aimed at her from her left and right, one on each side on the ledges above her. Alessia quickly ran up the stairs and to where the first draugr was standing on the left. She hit the draugr with her sword and then pushed it over the ledge with her foot. Crossing over the bridge, she made her way to the other draugr who was still attempting to hit her with arrows. Alessia swung her sword at the draugr, doing the same to it as she did the one she faced seconds ago. 

She went through a short hallway before seeing a spiraling set of wooden stairs. She made her way up them, two at a time. At the top of the stairs she found a gate and behind her a door. On both sides of the doors were openings in which she could easily see draugr on. On the floor she saw it was covered in what looked like oil, an idea quickly came to mind which she hoped would work. Alessia closed her eyes, concentrating until she heard the crackle of flames coming from the palm of her hand. 

While keeping the flame alive, she walked over to one of the openings and quickly stuck her hand inside. She quickly took a step back as she head a small explosion as soon as she let a bit of flames flow from her hand. The room quickly lit up in flames from the oil catching on fire.

She watched the flames for what felt like hours until they finally died down. Entering the room, she saw the remains of multiple draugr and a lever to her left. As she pulled it the gate across from her opened. 

Through the gate was what looked like a damaged hall. It somewhat reminded her of the many Hall of Stories she walked through many times before by the way it looked. She took a turn and ended up in a Hall of Stories that looked in much better shape. Alessia trailed her hand along the wall, jumping at the end of the hall when an axe swung right in front of her face. 

Without hesitating she pulled her sword from its sheathe and stabbed it at the draugr that was to her right. It fell to the ground, and as it did she heard a loud sound of something heavy hitting the ground. She looked down at the draugr and saw a diamond claw laying next to it. The claw was hooked to its belt and Alessia grabbed it and walked up to the large door in front of her. She quickly changed the patterns to match the claw's and placed it into the keyhole and the door began to open. 

Matter walking through she came face to face with a Word Wall. She traced her fingers over the word, _Strun_ , storm. She let out a long breath before walking away from the Word Wall and towards the next door. Before walking through it she let out a sigh from tiredness, she's most likely only been here for an hour or two but it felt much longer than that. 

Outside it was neither bright nor dark, so Alessia was unable to tell what time it was. As she walked further from the door she got her bow and readied an arrow, easily hitting a draugr. They came one after another, each one getting picked off by at least two arrows from Alessia. 

She continued to a set of stairs, stopping once she reached the top. A large stream of light flowed from the ground, which she guessed was her way to Sovngarde. She was more concerned about what stood between her and that portal. Directly in front of her was a Dragon Priest and to her left was a very large, golden dragon. She decided to ignore the dragon for now, knowing that the Dragon Priest was very powerful and more of her concern at the moment.

Alessia aimed an arrow at him as he seemed to float up a set of stairs near the portal. She let the arrow go, it hit him but he didn't seemed fazed by it as he continued up the stairs. Alessia watched him grab what seemed to be a staff from the top of the stairs. As soon as the staff left the floor the portal closed. 

To distracted by the portal closing, Alessia didn't realize a stream coming at her until it hit her in the shoulder. She flew back and hit a stone wall, her vision got blurry but she still saw the Dragon Priest moving closer to her. She sat up and looked around, unsure of what to do. 

She heard the crackling of lightning again and rolled to the side to avoid it. She gritted her teeth as the pain from her shoulder began to spread quickly. Alessia quickly went into her pack, finding a blood potion that would help her heal faster. She slowly stood to her feet, the potion didn't do much as the pain was still there. 

The Dragon Priest moved towards her again, but this time she was a bit ready. Alessia grabbed her sword and moved a step forward and as she did the Dragon Priest moved back. She moved forward faster, keeping her eyes on the staff as she did. 

She grabbed ahold of the staff, pulling it from the Dragon Priest's bony hands. She moved as fast as her feet would carry her as the pain grew again. Placing the staff where it was previously, the portal opened. As she was about to jump, a loud crack of lightning was heard behind Alessia as she fell into the portal to Sovngarde, then blacked out. 

* * *

"You're moping." Serana looked away from the fireplace and to the doorway where her mother stood with a frown on her face. 

"No I'm not." She looked away but heard her mother walk over and stood in front of her. 

"I know I said she's coming back, but if she doesn't I'm not going to allow you to mope around the rest of eternity." Serana let a single tear trail down her cheek as she avoided looking up at her mother. 

"It's been a little bit over a month. At three weeks my hope of her coming back started to dwindling down and it still is." Valerica sighed and crossed her arms. 

"Come with me please." Serana stood and followed her out of the room. She stopped as they faced what was previously a pile of rubble but was now a doorway. 

"You fixed it." Her mother nodded with a smile on her face and opened the door so they could walk through. 

"If you came out of your room in the past week you would have noticed. It's also not the only thing that was fixed." Serana walked through the door, smiling at the sight. 

The garden looked as it had years before she was locked away. Bright colors lit up the area, more than she could count on both her hands. She turned back to her mother, the smile still on her face. 

"That's the first time you've smiled since I've seen you." Valerica walked over to the small patch of flowers that was closest to her. "I remember you always coming her if something was bothering you when you were a kid. It felt like it was ages ago." 

"It was ages ago mother." Serana's smile quickly fell a few seconds later. "Kids." 

"What?" She turned to Serana with a raised eyebrow. 

"Alessia's brother and sister. I'm suppose to be taking care of them. I have to go." Valerica's arms fell to her sides as her daughter made her way to the door. 

"Serana-" 

"I'll be back don't worry. I'm only going to stay with them for a few weeks then I promise I'll be back." She walked over to her mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek before she quickly left the castle. 

Serana quickly climbed into the boat and made it to shore. She quickly walked to Solitude, wanting to run but the sun was shining brightly above her. 

She couldn't believe she forgot that Alessia said to take care of them. She knows very well that Alessia cares for them more than anyone else. So as soon as she got to Solitude she got a carriage and asked the driver to take her back to Ivarstead as quickly as possible. 

On her way there she was thinking about all the possible ways to tell them where Alessia was. The easiest thing to tell them would be that she went to fight Alduin and would be back soon. Serana was unsure of how soon her soon was, hopefully not much longer. It didn't take that long for them to weaken Alduin on the Throat of the World so it would only take a bit longer to kill him. Then again she did have to travel to Sovngarde. 

To lost in her thoughts the whole time, Serana didn't realize they were in Ivarstead until she heard the driver clear his throat. She looked up and smiled at him before hopping off. She sighed as she looked up the mountain that she would have to climb up again for what seemed like the millionth time. 

* * *

Serana actually enjoyed climbing up this mountain by herself. Nobody was there to complain about the cold and it's only took her two and a half days to reach High Hrothgar. Once she entered, she wasn't surprised to hear it was silent. Arngeir approached her first as she walked further inside. 

"Ah, Serana. I've heard that Alessia went to fight Alduin." Serana nodded a bit and looked past Arngeir to see Aeron walking down one of the halls. "They've been good, haven't bothered us much." 

"That's good. I'm going to talk to them, should probably tell them where Alessia is." Serana walked past him and found the twins in the bedroom laughing about something. She knocked on the door frame slightly to get their attention. They smiled when they saw her walk over to them and pull up a chair to sit near them. 

"Nice ring." Serana looked to Aeron and rolled her eyes when she saw the smile on her face. "Where is she?" 

"That's what I came to talk to you guys about. She went to go fight Alduin." They both nodded as Serana continued. "She left about a month and a half ago on the back of a dragon. I don't know if or when she'll be back." 

* * *

_"Alessia hurry up and get dressed we have dinner with your family." She didn't realize she had been staring out the window at a little girl that was running around in a small fenced yard with a dog. After she did, she looked away, seeing Serana standing near a wardrobe going through the clothes inside._

_"Dinner?" She didn't remember ever having a family dinner before or even having one planned, then again she couldn't even remember what she did yesterday._

_"Your mother invited us over when we spoke to her yesterday. Here put this on." Serana turned and handed Alessia a fancy shirt and a pair of pants. Alessia didn't pay much attention to the clothes but Serana's eyes once she finally looked at her. They were hazel, not the normal fiery color. "Is everything okay?"_

_"Oh yeah sorry. I'll get dressed." Serana smiled and kissed Alessia. She was taken back at first but eased into the kiss._

_"While you do that I'll go get Cassia cleaned up since she's been outside with the dog all day." Alessia watched Serana walk out of the room before she got dressed._

_As she did she looked around the bedroom. It was the one in her home in Whiterun, almost exactly the same. She then thought to what Serana said, Cassia, she knew nobody with that name. On one of the tables in the room she saw a metal cup, which she grabbed and used as a mirror. She dropped the cup, her eyes were green and she wasn't as pale as she remembered. Alessia shook her head and walked out the room then down the familiar set of stairs._

_"Momma!" She suck in a sharp breath of air as the girl that was outside ran towards her and latched onto her leg. She heard Serana laughing from the other side of the room. "Up! Up!" Alessia looked down and saw the little girl reaching up with her arms towards her._

_She picked her up and smiled gently as the girl, who she now figured was Cassia, laid her head on Alessia's shoulder. The girl had brown hair and blue eyes, she also seemed to be about three, maybe four, years old._

_"Are you ready to go?" Alessia looked back over to Serana as she walked over to the door. She slowly walked over to her and leaned her back against the door._

_"I have a question before we go."_

_"What is it?"_

_Alessia thought for a moment before she found the correct words. "Dragons, are they um, still around?"_

_"You've lived in Skyrim since forever silly, you should know this. They've been gone for thousands of years."_


	28. Chapter 28

_Alessia woke up with a bright light in her face. She stirred around in the bed and heard another person groan next to her, Serana._

_"Go back to sleep." She furrowed her brows as she lifted her head from the pillow. Looking around the room, she saw it was oddly familiar, to familiar._

_"I'll be right back." Alessia stood up from the bed, shivering as the blankets left her body._

_She quickly put on some clothes and left the room. The home was very small, still to familiar to her. Her feet carried her to the door on her left, empty other than a wardrobe and one bed. She stared at if for a second, it didn't look right._

_She turned her head when she heard laughing coming from somewhere else in the house. She followed the laughing to what was a small kitchen, seeing two people sitting at the table. A woman was facing away from her, the other was a man that was unfamiliar to her._

_A few seconds later the man looked over to her and smiled. She softly smiled back, still trying to figure out who he was. The woman then turned to her, as Alessia looked at her the smile quickly fell. It was her mother._

_"Good morning. Do you want something to eat?" Alessia looked at her and quickly shook her head no. "Does your friend want something or is she still sleeping?"_

_"My-my friend?"_

_"Yes the one that came over last night. What did you say her name was?" Alessia opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out._

_She swore she just knew her name but now she couldn't think of it. She shook her head and closed her eyes. Alessia opened them again once she heard footsteps behind her. She turned and saw the woman that was in her bed when she woke up. She smiled at her then towards the two at the table._

_"I'm gonna go on a walk, need some fresh air." Her mother and the man nodded as she walked towards what seemed to be the front door._

_Alessia stepped outside and stopped. She was in Bravil. The door opened behind her and then closed. The woman stood next to her, carefully watching her._

_"Are you okay?" She turned to her and saw the concern etched across her face._

_"This isn't real." The woman turned to her and smiled._

_"How do you know that?"_

_"I'm in Bravil. My mother is inside that house with some man. I can't remember your name but I know that I think about you all the time."_

_"That man is your father. My name is Serana. You have to wake up." Alessia looked at her in confusion._

_"What?" Serana moved in front of her and placed both of her hands on Alessia's cheeks._

_"Wake up. For yourself, for me. For your siblings. Please wake up."_

* * *

Alessia jumped awake, but quickly fell back down to the bed on her stomach. The whole back of her body was in immense pain that she could barely move. She opened her eyes and looked around, everything was oddly glowing. Even the small amount of people in the room. 

She grunted as she tried to move again, causing two people that were closest to her look over. They quickly rushed to her side, exchanging concerned glances with each other. One was an older man wearing the same attire as the Greybeards do and the other was a woman, maybe a few years older than Alessia, who wore armor. 

"Stay still. Your whole back looks terrible, and it isn't healing." The woman spoke first as she looked like she wanted to reach out and touch Alessia's back but didn't. 

"I don't know how many times I told you already, she won't heal from the potions you gave her. She's a vampire, she needs blood." Alessia moved her hand to her side, where her pack usually was but it wasn't there. 

"My pack." She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, even barely moving her arm hurt. She then remembered what happened. 

As she was about to jump into the portal the Dragon Priest had hit her with his magic. She remembered hearing the crack of lightning and then everything going black. She did not know how she got here, or where here was. Hopefully it was Sovngarde. 

She opened her eyes as she heard footsteps coming closer. She saw the woman and the older man standing over her again, then she remembered them also. They were two of the people she saw when reading the Elder Scroll at the Time Wound. 

Alessia grabbed her pack and pulled out one of the bottles of blood she had in it. She quickly drank it, letting out a sigh of relief as the pain began to diminish. She slowly moved to sit up, her feet dangling off the edge of the bed. The two watched her carefully, as if one move by her would cause her to hurt herself more. 

By now, most people in the room were looking at her. A few more had entered the room, stopping once they noticed she was up. Some had blank expressions on their face, others had what looked like concern, maybe even pity. Seconds later everyone began talking amongst themselves.

Alessia looked away from everyone as she heard a door quickly open from across the room. The clanking of steel on the floor was loud through the voices across the room. She turned away, back to her feet, as the footsteps faded. 

"Are you feeling better?" Alessia looked at the woman, she couldn't remember her name, or if she even knew it. 

"I've been better. How did-" 

"Alessia?" The sound of loud footsteps moved closer to her. She looked to her left once the person stopped. Alessia opened her mouth to say something but she quickly closed it, unable to find any words. "What are you doing here?" 

Alessia said nothing as she quickly jumped to her feet to hug Lydia, which wasn't the best idea. She lost her balance, causing it to be more of Lydia catching her from falling than them hugging. 

"I'm so so sorry." Lydia pulled back from her and crossed her arms. She stood and watched for a few moments as Alessia wiped a few tears that were falling down her cheeks. "You're mad at me aren't you?" 

"I'm not mad and don't be sorry. I would like to know how and why you are here." 

"I should be because I couldn't save you." Lydia narrowed her eyes at Alessia, causing her to give an apologetic smile. "I'm not dead if that's what you're concerned about, not fully dead. Alduin is here and I plan on defeating him." 

"How'd you get here though?" 

Alessia chuckled, "I sort of got a ride on a dragon to this place called Skuldafn where there's a portal to here." 

"Of course you did. One of these days _you're_ gonna get yourself killed doing something." Alessia rolled her eyes with a smile on her face. "Let's go kill a dragon then." 

* * *

Serana was sitting in a chair next to a small fire reading, more like trying to read, while Alessia's siblings were arguing in the next room. Ever since she got back to them that's all they've been doing, and it was always about something pointless. She has been there for two weeks and she was finally over it.

Setting her book down rather hard, she stood up and walked to the next room to see Arden holding a sheet of paper of a fire that was burning in his hand. Aeron was standing on the other side of the room staring at him with wide eyes. She was about to start yelling again but she saw Serana standing at the door with crossed arms. The fire in Arden's hand immediately stopped when he saw Serana also. 

"I don't mean to be rude, but could you guys be quiet for once?" Both of them started arguing again, they were yelling at the same time so Serana couldn't understand what they were saying. "Both of you please be quiet. Aeron come speak with me please." 

Serana walked out of the room and to the one she was in previously with Aeron following behind her. She shut the door and they sat down in the two chairs in the room. Aeron was staring at her feet as Serana stared at her. 

"Why have you two been arguing since I got back? I was told that you didn't bother anyone while Alessia and I weren't here." She looked up to Serana and then away before answering. 

"She's not coming back." Serana felt a lump in her throat at the statement, she was beginning to feel the same. 

"We don't know that." 

"It's been two months since she left. She's dead." 

"I don't think she is. Last time I thought she was dead she was showing up weeks later running into me in one of the cities then killing my father." Serana closed her eyes and let out a deep breathe. "That's probably not the best thing to say she did at the moment." 

"You let her kill your father?" Aeron sounded shocked by what Serana had said, even though both her and Arden knew she had issues with her family. 

"He tried killing us first, so yes. But you guys were arguing about her not being here?" 

"Yeah. Arden is good at hiding it feelings and he has actually sort of been glad that she's not here. I'm upset she's gone, we just got her back and I don't want to lose her again. I know you don't want to lose her either. Today we weren't arguing about her though, he was just being an ass like usual." Serana couldn't help but laugh a bit at what she said. 

"You said those things to Alessia though, about her stringing me along. You barely talked to her too, while he was being nice and everything else."

"I'm sorry about that, I can tell now you love her and she loves you by the way you look at each other. I don't know why he is being like that to be honest." Aeron was about to continue speaking but Arngeir quickly walked into the room with a concerned look on his face.

"Serana come with me, I think there's a problem." 

* * *

Alessia, Lydia and the three, ancient Nord heros were outside the Hall of Valor, Alduin was circling above them. Arrows were flying everywhere, most missing their targets. Large rocks, lit aflame were falling around them, some close to hitting them. 

When Alduin was on the ground, they didn't have much time to do damage. Either he was doing to well of a job of keeping them away or they were hesitant to approach him. 

He finally landed again, prompting Alessia to drop her bow and grab her sword. This one, everyone approached Alduin with their weapons ready. They could tell he was getting somewhat weaker from fighting from the sky and a bit from the ground, so they took advantage of it. 

Everyone was doing large amounts of damage to Alduin. Numerous times he was letting out cries from pain and saying things. Although Alessia knew the dragon language, she was to concentrated on her attack than understanding what he was saying. 

The large rocks were raining down on them faster and in larger numbers. Around them fires burned and this made Alessia more confident that they would win since he was attempting to cause more harm to them but was failing. 

Yet they were getting close enough that everyone had about a second to dodge them so they wouldn't get hit. Fire was burning everyone and weapons were recklessly being swung around so there wasn't much room to move and dodge these attacks. Since Alessia was near the back of Alduin she also had to dodge his swinging tail that hard large, sharp horns on them. 

Alessia took a great great risk and grabbed ahold of his tail when it swung by again to climb onto his back. She slowly moved her way up his back while everyone watched her from where they stood. Alduin tried his best to cause her to fall off but she held on tightly. Just as she neared his head he lurched his head back, causing her to fly off and hit the large cliff behind her. 

Her vision grew a bit blurry, but she was able to see a few people jump onto Alduin as he turned towards her. Her eyes grew wide as she realized what he was about to do, so she held up a very weak ward that Serana had taught her once. It immediately broke as the flames hit it. Through the flames she saw someone bring their sword down on Alduin's head. 

His skin didn't burn up like normal dragons. Light shimmered around him as he screeched loudly. Seconds later he went up on his hind legs, his scales exploding off his body in a black cloud as more light appeared. The light grew brighter and brighter as a loud explosion was heard and Alduin was no longer seen. 

Alessia's vision grew even blurrier after the fire and sudden burst of light. At this point, her body was full of pain all over so she felt numb. Two figures picked her up and voices surrounded her as she was picked up and carried towards the Hall of Valor. As soon as she was placed back down on the bed where she woke up her vision grew to blurry and she blacked out. 

* * *

"Is she back?" Serana quickly followed Arngeir outside to the courtyard. 

"I don't know. Paarthurnax would like to speak with you though." She looked over to the path up the mountain, as usual it was covered with fog and strong winds. 

"You do know that I can't clear that path right?" Arngeir let out a low laugh as he led her up the stairs to the path. 

"I'll clear it." He let out a thundering Shout and the path quickly cleared. "It will stay clear for awhile, enough time for you and Paarthurnax to speak." 

Serana began the trip up the mountain. She was beyond nervous and anxious, never had any of the Greybeards, let alone Paarthurnax, want to speak with her. Once she neared the top of the mountain, there was an occasional red splotch in the snow. Blood. 

She quickened her pace and saw Paarthurnax sitting atop the Word Wall with a dark figure in the snow below him. She stopped where she was, the snow around the figure was stained red. Serana took a quick glance at Paarthurnax who held his head low but his eyes were still on her. 

"She's not well." Serana nodded, slowly taking steps closer to both of them. "I'll let you two be." Paarthurnax spread his wings and flew off to the highest part of the mountain as Serana continued to move forward. 

Her previously intact leather armor was severely burnt. There were burns all along her skin along with many scratches, some small and others large. She let out a groan and moved to her side as Serana dropped down to her knees next to her. 

She opened her eyes slowly and met Serana's eyes then quickly shut them. Serana picked her up as carefully as she could, yet she still groaned in pain. She quickly walked her down to High Hrothgar where she saw Arngeir standing outside in the courtyard still. 

"She defeated him?" Serana didn't stop walking as Arngeir noticed them and continued inside towards one of the rooms. 

"I don't know. Can you keep her siblings out of the room, I don't want them to see her like this." He nodded and walked away, allowing Serana to enter the room and place Alessia down on the bed. As she did she noticed two pieces of paper in what use to be a pocket. One had her name on it and another had Alessia's. Serana quickly opened the one for her, curious of who it could be from. 

_Serana,_

_I don't know if this letter will ever reach you, hopefully it does. Alessia came to Sovngarde, almost dead. She was out for maybe a month and a half. She told us that if was a Dragon Priest that almost killed her. A day after she woke up we went to fight Alduin. He's dead, but she wasn't the one to kill him. He almost killed her. We should of made her wait to go up against him, either way he would still be dead. For two weeks we watched after her, trying to get her healthy enough to travel back to you. Hopefully we did just that._

_Tell her that she isn't to blame for me dying. I tried telling her but she was stubborn and said it was her fault. All I ask of you is to please take good care of her, which I know you will. No matter what happens in the future stay by her side because she will need you._

_Just so you know, I was right that I'd be dead by time you guys get together or married._

_Lydia_

Serana placed the letter down on the nightstand and wiped the tears that were staining her cheeks. She moved a chair next to Alessia and grabbed her hand. It was warm, to warm for the hand a vampire. 

"I thought you were dead. Then I get you back almost dead and I swear if you die I'm gonna find a way to kill you myself." Serana looked up when there was a knock on the door, most likely Arngeir. 

Once she opened the door she stood there staring at Aeron who was on the other side. She quickly wiped her cheeks and eyes to make it seem like she wasn't crying then forced a smile on her face. 

"What did Arngeir want?" Aeron tried looking behind Serana but she moved outside and shut the door behind her. 

"He just wanted to talk." 

"I saw you walk up that path that is usually blocked off by wind." Serana only nodded, unsure of what to say. 

They stayed silent for a few seconds before Serana rolled her eyes and opened the door. "Come in." Serana hesitantly followed her inside the room. 

Both remained silent. Aeron kept her eyes on Alessia while Serana glanced between the two. 

Aeron finally looked over to Serana after a few minutes with tears in her eyes. "She'll be okay, right?" 

"I don't know," Serana said quietly. They both looked to Alessia as she quietly coughed, then groaned as she moved a bit in the bed. "She hasn't said a thing, or really done anything other than what you just saw. She opened her eyes once but only for a few seconds." 

Aeron nodded, "I'm gonna tell Arden she's back, if that's okay with you." Serana nodded and Aeron left the room, shutting the door behind her. 

Serana laid down on the bed that was next to Alessia. She stayed on her side so she could look over at her, but she quickly fell asleep.

* * *

"What the hell." 

Serana slowly opened her eyes when she heard movement in the room and someone talking. She sat up and looked over to Alessia, she was laying on her side staring at her. Her eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. A big smile immediately appeared on Serana's face. 

"You're awake." Serana moved to the chair that was next to the bed and sat down in it. 

"Uh, yeah?" Alessia glanced around the room then back to Serana. "I think I drank to much last night." 

"You didn't drink at all last night. You haven't been able to drink for the past two nights." Serana grabbed Alessia's hand with her own. 

"I feel like I did." Alessia awkwardly removed her hand from Serana's and rubbed her forehead. She then slowly sat up with the help of Serana, giving her a small smile when she was fully up.

She glanced around the room one more time, then to Serana. She still had the smile on her face as she watched Alessia. She moved uncomfortably on the bed a few times before speaking again.

"I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?" She nervously laughed as Serana's smile fell. 

"What?" 

"I don't know who you are. I mean you look sort of familiar but still, I don't know you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for this update taking forever, school started for me two weeks ago so I was busy with that and also had a bit of writers block. I also got hit with a hurricane and as I finally figured out what I was going to write in this chapter and was almost finished my electric went out for two days. Hopefully my next updates won't take as long. 
> 
> I'd like to thank/give credit to MrBaum for the idea of having Lydia in this chapter. It was a really great idea that I enjoyed and I'm glad that you suggested it.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Not an update)  
> I’d like to apologize for not updating this story recently. I’m having a lot of writers block for it. Also I’ve been busy with school and soccer. Hopefully soon I will be able to update and finish this story but for now I’m going to put this story on hold.

Serana stared blankly at Alessia. 

"What?" She wondered how she could just forget about her after only two months. She didn't know what could cause this. 

"I don't know who you are. I mean you look sort of familiar but still, I don't know you." Serana fought back the tears, maybe Alessia was just playing with her. 

"Stop joking around." Now Alessia was staring at her blankly. "I'll be right back." Serana stood up and walked towards the door but felt a hand around her wrist stop her. 

"Can you at least tell me where we are?" 

"High Hrothgar." Alessia continued to look at her blankly. "You're in Skyrim." 

Serana quickly walked out of the room and to where Arden and Aeron were staying. Since Alessia came back Arden has been hiding in the room while Aeron was spending as much time as she could with them. When she walked into the room Aeron was reading a book while Arden was sleeping. 

"Are you okay?" Aeron looked up from the book as Serana entered the room. She tried to make it look like she was okay but it quickly failed. 

"No." She gave Serana a questioning look, making her explain why she wasn't okay. "Alessia woke up, and she doesn't remember me." 

"What's the last thing she remembers?" Serana shrugged her shoulders and began pacing around the room. 

"I didn't ask her, I thought she was joking at first." 

"This isn't good." 

"Thanks for the clarification." Serana rolled her eyes before looking at Aeron. "You should go talk to her, she should at least remember you." 

They walked to the room Alessia was in to find her laying in a bed reading a book. Aeron rolled her eyes and walked past Serana to stand next to the bed. 

"Since when did you read?" Aeron took the book and shook her head as she read the front cover. "Coincidence?" She showed the title of the book, _The Book of the Dragonborn_ , to Serana as she let out a small chuckle. 

"Since when did you get so tall?" 

"Fun fact, as you get older you grow." Alessia sat up from the bed and stood next to Aeron, comparing their height. 

"Last I remember you were like, short. Also you looked like a little kid." Aeron crossed her arms as she took a step back from Alessia. Serana rolled her eyes, since she has been getting to know Aeron she knew that some smartass comments were to come. 

"I'm pretty sure when your were also fifteen you were this tall." Serana let out a sigh, this isn't how she planned on Aeron talking to Alessia but she figured it was better than nothing. Alessia lips were moving but no words came out for a few minutes. 

"If I'm twenty-one how are your fifteen?" Aeron quickly turned to look at Serana who was looking at both of them with a blank expression. She didn't answer Alessia and quickly dragged Serana out of the room. 

"You know how I said this isn't good?" Serana only nodded, still with the blank expression. "Well this is worse cause when she was twenty-one she wasn't the best person." 

"Do you know why?" Aeron took a deep breath and quickly glanced into the room to make sure Alessia wasn't listening to them. 

"I shouldn't be the one to tell you why, she should. Also, I don't know if she remembers it or not so she might just be normal twenty-one year old Alessia." 

"Either way you're making it sound like it's bad." 

"Well yeah, she doesn't remember you and Alessia wasn't the nicest person when she was that age." 

"She was nice to me this morning I think." Aeron laughed, earning a glare from Serana. 

"That's only because she most likely thinks you're hot." Serana smiled a bit, it wouldn't be too bad if Alessia thought that. "If you want you can come in the room while I ask her if she remembers. If she does her reaction might not be the best." 

"I'll go. If she asks who I am again what do we say?" 

"You're Serana, a really good friend." Serana nodded, she hated to admit it but she had to be a friend right now. She couldn't be Alessia's soon to be wife right now when Alessia can't even remember her name. 

Alessia looked like she had been sitting patiently in the room for them to return. Serana and Aeron pulled out two chairs, sitting down across from Alessia. Serana and Alessia exchanged an awkward glance before they both looked to Aeron. 

"You didn't answer my question from earlier." Alessia then looked to Serana. "You didn't answer either." 

Aeron was the first to speak up between the two. "Alessia, do you remember Octavia?" As soon as the name left Aeron's mouth, one Serana didn't recognize, Alessia immediately began glaring at her. If looks could kill, Aeron would have immediately been dead. 

"You know that I said not to talk about her, ever. Are you one of her friends?" Serana immediately shook her head no as Alessia gave her the same look. "Aeron leave us please." 

Aeron quickly stood up with the a bit of fear in her eyes and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Serana stayed in the chair while Alessia stood up and began pacing in front of her. 

"Who are you?" Serana couldn't keep who she really was from Alessia. She quickly blurted out who she is. 

"I'm Serana and we are together and suppose to get married when you came back but you don't remember me so Aeron said to tell you I'm a good friend but I can't lie to you about that." Alessia stood at her with wide eyes to what she had just said. 

"Now I think you're joking." 

"I'm not. I have a ring," Serana lifted up her hand to Alessia. "You gave it to me two months ago. I'm sure you also noticed I'm a vampire and you are too. I'm the one who turned you." 

"You did this to me?" Serana winced at the way Alessia said it, as if it was the worst thing in the world. "I'm really confused." 

"You asked me to turn you. I only agreed because it was a life or death situation." Alessia still looked very confused and a bit angry. "I don't know how to explain things to you. I know nothing about you when you were twenty-one up to when you were just turning twenty-five. You forgot a bit over four years of your life. I can only tell you things about you from the past year or so. Everything else your siblings will have to tell you." 

"How did I forget everything?" Serana motioned for Alessia to sit down before she began explaining. 

"Do you know what a Dragonborn does?" Alessia nodded after a few seconds so Serana continued. "You're Dragonborn. You found out when you came to Skyrim from Bravil. You told me you wanted nothing to do with it, everyone in Skyrim saw you as a puppet. Only here to save the world. Months later you met me, but that's a whole different story we can get to eventually, soon you realized you have to be Dragonborn. You wanted to save the world for me and your siblings so you did. Two months ago you went to Sovngarde to defeat Alduin and you did. Except you were badly hurt while you were fighting him where you were barely alive. That's when you lost those memories." 

Alessia stared at her feet for many, long minutes taking in everything that Serana had said. Serana patiently waiting for her to say something, anything yet she stayed silent. 

"Are you okay?" Alessia quickly looked to Serana and shook her head as she smiled. 

"Yeah, sorry. It's just a lot to take in really. So I saved the world?" 

"Two times." 

"Two?" Serana nodded, but didn't explain the first time Alessia did. She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it again because she knew she would have to explain how she was turned for a second time. "No explanation?" 

"No. I'm just not ready to talk about some of the things about it yet." 

"That's okay." Alessia gave her a small smile which she returned. 

Serana wondered why Aeron said Alessia wasn't the best person when she was twenty one. Right now she was being polite with her, even after all she had said about them both.

She then wondered who this Octavia person was. Alessia had never mentioned her at all, and clearly she had some big effect on Alessia's life. The way she looked at Aeron when she mentioned her showed that it wasn't good. She was very tempted to ask about it but decided it would be best if she didn't. 

Serana looked up to see Alessia staring at her. "You look lost in your thoughts. Did you hear what I said?" She shook her head no. "I was wondering if I had a home here or if this was it." 

"You have one in Whiterun. The Greybeards live here and so have I for the past month or so. Your siblings have been staying here longer than I have." Alessia smiled at the mention of her siblings. 

"Arden is here too?" Serana nodded and stood up, motioning for Alessia to follow her. Serana led her to the bedroom that the twins were staying in. Both of them were sitting at the small table eating. 

Arden smiled at Alessia when she walked into the room. "Back from the dead I see." 

"Hello to you too." Alessia rolled her eyes as she leaned against a wall. Arden rolled his eyes too and went back to eating. 

Aeron was the first to say something. "So Serana, where did you say you stayed before you came here?" 

"With my mother. Why?" 

"No offense to the old guys here but it's sort of boring here." Serana looked at her but didn't say anything. She wasn't sure what Aeron was trying to say. "Where does she live?" 

"An island near Solitude. What are you trying to get to?"

Arden spoke up before Aeron could. "She wants to get out of here and for us to live where your mother does cause she doesn't know anywhere else to stay." 

"Only if you're okay with it cause I mean, it's your mother. Also it's cold here and there's nothing to do other than read here." 

"You're not gonna have much more fun there than here. It's also cold there and the only thing to do there is read also." Aeron didn't look like she was going to give up in her wanting to go somewhere else. 

"You did say I have a place in Whiterun we could go to." Serana forgot that Alessia was there until she spoke up from behind her. 

"It's not big enough for everyone. There's only two bedrooms. The Jarl of Whiterun also isn't your biggest fan right now I think." Serana just then realized how much she would have to tell Alessia. She thought maybe going to her home would be okay because it gave them the privacy they needed. Then again, her mother was there. 

They were on good terms now but deep down she knew she was still mad about her mother leaving her locked up. She also knew that her mother wasn't Alessia's biggest fan. 

"I guess we can go my place." 

Nobody complained during the four days it took them to walk down the mountain to Ivarstead. Luckily they caught a carriage not to far from there to take to Solitude. They were halfway to Solitude, only Alessia and Serana were awake while Aeron and Arden fell asleep maybe an hour ago. 

"So," Serana looked up to see Alessia looking at her from the other side of the carriage. "Have I ever met your mother?" 

"You did. She never really was a big fan of the people I was friends with but I think she somewhat liked you. She knows that we were suppose to get married but I'll talk to her about that when we get there." 

"I'm sorry." Alessia messed around with the strings at the end of her shirt, avoiding eye contact with Serana. 

"For what?" 

"For forgetting the time when I knew you. You're probably hurting right now." She was right, Serana was hurting from this but it wasn't like Alessia choose to just erase four years from her memory. 

"It's not your fault." Alessia met Serana's eyes for a second then looked back down at her hands. "I probably shouldn't ask this, but who's Octavia? You never mentioned her to me before." 

"I'll tell you if you tell me about the other time I saved the world, which I'm guessing involves you." No matter how curious Serana was, she couldn't talk about it yet. It felt like she was just meeting Alessia for the first time the past few days and wasn't ready to open up again. 

"I can't." 

"Then I guess we'll both have to wait." 

* * *

Serana stood in the sand in front of her home. Everyone else stood behind her gaping at the large castle. 

Getting back wasn't her idea of a fun and easy trip, she spent her time somewhat telling Alessia some things she knew about the area they passed through. When they reached Solitude she had to threaten the man that took them to her home the last time. The twins got a laugh out of it but Alessia didn't seem to mind it, like she didn't expect much less from a vampire. 

Serana turned back to look at them, a smile appearing on her face as they continued to look at the castle in shock. "Are you guys coming or not?" 

They started walking up to the bridge until Serana came to a complete stop. Someone ran into her back but she didn't care to look back and see who it was, she only paid attention to who just walked out of the castle's front doors. 

"Is that your mother?" Serana looked and saw Alessia behind her, looking somewhat nervous. 

"No. Wait here please." The three nodded and watched as Serana walked from them. 

As Serana got closer to the woman standing in the middle of bridge she noticed the smirk on her face, which only made her angrier. She quickly stomped the rest of the way to her. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" Serana grabbed her by the collar of the shirt she was wearing. It was similar to the one she was wearing yet different colors. 

The smirk on her face only grew. "That's no way to greet me after so many years." 

"It is after you left me without saying a word!" The smirk on her face fell as Serana let go after pushing her back. 

"You left first for the ritual, so I did the same." 

"Except I came back for you but only to find that you left and I blamed it all on myself for no reason." She reached down and grabbed Serana's hand but she quickly pulled her hand back. 

"Serana-" 

"Don't. I'm in love with someone else. Even if she can't return that love right now I'll always love her, not you." The smirk returned on her face as she crossed her arms. 

"Well, I'm sure you'll be happy to know that your mother is allowing me to stay since I can't find my parents." 

"I really don't care just stay away from me." Serana took a step back and took a glance towards the three who were curiously watching them. "Stay away from them also." 

"That's the one you love? If that's the case then I can't stay away." Serana said nothing and quickly walked back to where they were standing. 

"Who is she?" Serana watched as she walked back into the castle before answering. 

"Someone I knew a long time ago." Alessia noticed the anger in Serana's tone and decided not to question her anymore as they walked up towards the castle. 

They got inside, Serana was glad to see that nobody was out and about. She gave them a quick tour and showed them where they could stay. Luckily they didn't only have coffins to sleep in. Not much later her mother showed up as they were getting back to the dining hall. 

"Serana, I didn't expect you back so soon. And Alessia, it's good to see you're okay. I'm glad to see my daughter agreed to-" 

"Mother we need to talk. In private." Valerica shot Serana a quickly glare for interrupting her but nodded. They walked out to the Courtyard that was still in perfect shape as it had been the month before. 

"You know it's rude to interrupt, this better be important I was about to congratulate you both." Serana sighed and paced in front of her mother. 

"It's important but not good. When Alessia went to fight Alduin she got badly hurt and she forgot the past four years of her life. Including me." Valerica stayed silent and only pulled Serana into a hug. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Valerica pulled away and wiped the tears from her daughter's cheeks. 

"She'll come back, she's strong. Even if she doesn't I'm sure you both can find the love you had before." 

* * *

_Three Days Later_

Serana, her mother, Alessia and the twins were sitting at one of the dining hall tables in an awkward silence. This was the first time they were all together since they've arrived. Serana had been spending most of her time in her room while Alessia had been with her younger siblings. This was the first time Valerica had succeeded in getting them all in the same place at the same time. 

Serana stirred her spoon around in the stew her mother made while not caring to listen to Aeron who had started speaking. She looked up for a second to see Alessia doing the same across from her. Before she looked back down to her own bowl she saw a smile appear on Alessia's face. She smiled herself and looked away. 

"Talk." Serana looked to her left as her mother spoke under her breath so only she could hear. She nodded and then noticed that nobody was now speaking again. 

"So Aeron was this all you expected it to be?" She knew her mother meant for her to talk to Alessia but she didn't know what to say to her at the moment. 

"I didn't really have expectations since it's the first castle that I've been in. It is better than that place on the mountain though. Your friend that you talked to when we first got here has also been nice to me." Serana dropped her spoon into the bowl causing everyone to give her a weird look. 

"I would t say she's nice. I guess she's okay." Serana then looked to Alessia who spoke up from across from her. 

"I told her to stay away from us yet she's talking to us. You can't talk to her anymore. It's for your sake." 

"Serana you can't just tell them not to talk to her." She glared at her mother as she stood up from the table. 

"You know exactly what Runa did to me! She left me and broke my heart!" Serana stormed away from the dining hall and entered her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. 

"Someone's upset." Serana immediately walked up to Runa and pushed her up against the closet wall. 

"I told you to stay away from them, yet you go be friends with them." She only laughed and easily pushed Serana away from her. 

"The kid started talking to me first so don't yell at me about that. I approached Alessia on my own and you can't tell me that I can or can't." 

"Why are you here?" Runa took a step closer to Serana, causing her to take a step back. 

"You won't believe me, but I came back for you." Serana rolled her eyes as she took another step closer to her. "I'm being serious." 

"You could've come back like, I don't know, thousands of years ago. I would have believed you then. Now I don't want anything to do with you." 

Runa chuckled, "I'm going to guess there's nothing I can do to make you believe me." 

"You could just leave," Serana quickly retorted. 

"I'd like to know why she can stay here when she clearly doesn't love you, maybe not even care for you, yet I'm not allowed to." 

"If you want to stay somewhere around here you can stay in the Undercroft. Alessia gets to stay here because I love her, I don't love you." Runa took another step forward, this time Serana didn't move away. She crossed her arms and glared at her, doing her best to stand her ground. 

"It won't be hard to make you love me again." She brushed her thumb across Serana's cheek. Her hand was quickly hit away. 

"If you love me then you'd let me be happy. I'm happy with Alessia." 

"Know which one of us remembers you and actually cares about you."


End file.
